A look at 13 in a row

How did the Cedar Rapids Kernels win 13 games in a row? Well, they outscored the opponent in all 13 of those games, silly.

In all seriousness, it was by doing virtually everything well.

The Kernels outscored their opponents by a 79-27 margin during their streak. Even with my bad math skills, I can figure out that's giving up just over two runs a game. That'll win most of the time.

Offensively, the Kernels hit just .254 but averaged over six runs a game. That would indicate a lot of clutch hits, a lot of "Angels baseball," which means getting them over after they get on, then getting them in.

Defensively, opponents committed 13 errors to two for Cedar Rapids. And both of those Kernels' errors came in one game.

There were four one-run victories among the 13 and two in extra innings. A team that was wretched the first month and a half in close games, now can't lose them. In fact, Cedar Rapids has won eight straight games decided by a run and has a winning record overall (11-8).

Quite a run, just shy of the club record of 17 straight victories. The only bad part was longtime equipment manager Ron "Roady" Plein breaking his ankle in the middle of the second-to-last game at Wisconsin. The 65-year-old Roady, as he is known to do, was racing a batboy for a foul ball behind home plate when he collided with the bat boy. He had surgery and is wheelchair bound.

And don't forget nine of the wins came on the road, which is quite impressive.