Kernels beat Clinton in 13 innings, 7-6

CEDAR RAPIDS - Good thing the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight was delayed Saturday night, because there would have been some upset Cedar Rapids Kernels if they would have missed it. They would have missed it had they played a little longer.

Everyone was riveted by a feed of the big boxing match on the clubhouse television after the Kernels finally finished off Clinton, 7-6, in a four-hour, 13-inning marathon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

There were very few fans remaining at the park when T.J. White scored from third base on a short sacrifice fly to left by Pat Kelly. The throw from Clinton's Wayne Taylor beat White home, but he slid inside and was never tagged by catcher Daniel Torres.

At least that's what home-plate umpire Brandon Butler ruled.

'At first, I didn't think I'd have a chance to tag,” said White, who led off the bottom of the 13th with a triple into the right-field corner. 'But the left fielder kind of made a bad read on it, and he was kind of falling back. So Jake said ‘Go ahead, go ahead.' At that point, I knew I had to get going and take off.”

Jake is Kernels Manager Jake Mauer, and he was ultra aggressive in the tag-up call. That should have been expected considering the length of the game.

Mauer sent Tanner English all the way around with one out in the 11th, when English hit a sinking liner that bounced in front of and then past Clinton center fielder Luis Liberato. The relay throw home from second baseman Nelson Ward was strong and true, and English was out by a substantial margin.

'We've got to take a chance there, or else we'd still be going,” Mauer said. 'It was the same thing with Tanner English. Take a chance.”

The Kernels (13-10) came in having scored seven runs total in their previous seven games and with a team batting average of .166 during that span. They were no-hit by three Clinton pitchers Friday night, managing just a pair of walks: one in the seventh inning and one in the ninth.

All the bad things that could happen to a struggling offense were taken care of early in Saturday's game. English walked leading off, went to third on Nick Gordon's ensuing single over shortstop and scored on a double-play grounder.

No perfect game, no no-hitter and no shutout.

'Definitely started to get the life back in the bats tonight,” White said. 'That's baseball. It's going to be different every day. You've just got to come out with a new game plan every day, swing it and have fun.”

But pitching and defense, which have been solid staples, weren't. Starting pitcher Michael Cederoth struggled with his control, walking five in four innings.

All three runs charged against him were unearned. Cederoth appeared on the verge of pitching out of a bases-loaded, no-out pickle, getting a pair of strikeouts and then a routine groundball to second.

But Kernels second baseman Jonatan Hinojosa waited back on the grounder and let it get through his legs to score two runs. Clinton scored again in the fourth when Hinojosa's relay on what seemed an easy double play was wild, followed by a bunt single to third and throwing error past first on Kernels first baseman T.J. White.

Cedar Rapids tied it at 3-3 with a pair of third-inning runs, including the first home run of the season from catcher Brett Doe. But Randy LeBlanc was touched up for three runs in his two innings of relief, and the Kernels couldn't get it back even.

They did score twice in the sixth and had the tying run at second base and go-ahead run at first. A ninth-inning rally then did send it to extra innings.

White worked a leadoff walk against Clinton reliever Peter Miller. With one out, pinch hitter Trey Vavra doinked an opposite-field single to very short right field, with White hustling to third.

English struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, but Gordon picked everyone up with a game-tying, line-drive single to right field. Zack Larson struck out with the winning run on second base.

The teams play the final game of their three-game homestand Sunday afternoon at 2:05.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com