Quad Cities smacks Kernels, improves MWL-best record

CEDAR RAPIDS - The best team in the Midwest League was at it again Wednesday night at Memorial Stadium, doing its winning thing.

If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan, and there are a lot of them around these parts, you've got to be encouraged by what you've seen all summer from the Quad Cities River Bandits. They've had talent, qualified for the playoffs in the first half, lead the second half Western Division standings and moved to a league-best 21 games over .500 with a 8-4 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

“I play everybody,” said Quad Cities Manager Johnny Rodriguez. “Nobody sits more than one game, so I have my rotation. I have my priority guys, and I have my backups. But I do keep everybody (involved). Everybody pitches. So you keep all 25 guys yelling (for each other), and you hope they're in rhythm. That's one of the (reasons) why I think we've been successful.”

Quad Cities (64-43 overall) has had its usual array of player movement, a Cardinals staple. For instance, it lost two of the organization's top pitching prospects to promotions in Carlos Martinez and Jordan Swagerty.

But the River Bandits have just kept on winning, reloading with guys like second baseman Kolten Wong. He was St. Louis' first-round draft pick this June out of the University of Hawaii, and is hitting over .300 as a presence at the top of the batting order.

“He's a baseball player,” said Rodriguez, whose son, Sean, is an infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays and former Kernel. “He plays the game the right way. He's got energy, he's made Web Gems (defensively) … He's aggressive at the plate, he can steal a base.

“Unless there is an injury, I don't see why this kid wouldn't play in the big leagues.”

Though starting pitcher Seth Blair, a supplemental first-round pick of the Cards last year, struggled Wednesday night, three relievers followed with seven shutout innings. The Kernels (48-60, 16-22 second half) had just five hits and struck out 16 times, though they remain just three games behind Clinton for the final second-half playoff spot in the division.

The teams play again Thursday night at 6:35.