Quad Cities improves its baseball-best record by smashing Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS - Professional baseball's best team continued to do its considerable thing Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

There's no telling how many guys on this Quad Cities River Bandits team ever will see the major leagues. Statistically, it's a longshot for every player at this level.

But, collectively, this group has had absolutely no peer in the Midwest League. A 10-3 throttling of the Cedar Rapids Kernels improved QC's record to a rather astounding 28-7.

That's better than any other team in the minors or majors.

'The team in there, they just compete,” Quad Cities Manager Josh Bonifay said, pointing to his clubhouse. 'Our starting pitching has been really, really good, and it starts with pitching. Also, as you saw tonight, our guys play with intensity, they compete. The defense they play night in and night out, they bring a (high) level. We're not going to give extra outs, we don't want to give extra outs, we want to play as hard as we can. They just compete. They compete daily.”

Quad Cities leads the MWL in virtually every team offensive category and moved back ahead of Cedar Rapids in team earned run average after this one. The parent Houston Astros have promoted some Bandits to the next level (high-Class A) recently, but the guys who have come in to replace them have produced just as well.

Such as pitcher Akeem Bostick, who threw four one-hit shutout innings in relief to get the save. He just came up from extended spring training.

'I knew we had a special club in spring training,” Bonifay said. 'I knew we would be able to play small ball and be able to hit doubles, homers, drive in runs that way, too. I knew we were going to be special on the mound. But you never know what kind of grit a team will have. That's hard to measure. These guys have huge, huge heart.”

The Kernels (21-12) didn't exactly make it hard for Quad Cities, as four pitchers combined to walk 10 guys. That included three in three innings for loser Michael Cederoth (1-3), who continues to have issues in his conversion from reliever to starter.

He was charged with six runs, five earned, and saw his ERA spike to 5.00. The only real highlight for the home team was a three-run second inning in which Blake Schmit had a two-run triple and Pat Kelly an RBI double.

The teams play again Saturday at 5:05 p.m. Cedar Rapids is 1-3 this season against QC.

'Their approach offensively is probably the best in the league,” said Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. 'They don't swing at balls out of the zone, at least it didn't seem like it tonight. They tried to make our guys throw it over, which we couldn't do. They're hitting .270 as a team, and that's why. They don't beat themselves. They catch the ball really well, and I think they're leading the league in pitching, too.

'We didn't give them too many problems tonight.”

Mauer said injured catcher Brian Navarreto is leaving Saturday morning for Fort Myers, Fla., and extended spring training to continue rehabbing from a wrist injury that has placed him on the disabled list. The skipper said he thinks Navarreto will be there at least a week.

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