A wild and windy one as Kernels rally to win, 11-10

Appleton, WI – It was a windy day on Monday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium as the Cedar Rapids Kernels avoided a series sweep with a 11-10 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Kernels hit four home runs (Jon Karcich, Jean Segura, Eric Oliver and Matt Long) as Jose Jimenez was 2-5 with 4 RBI.

A brisk breeze blowing out to right field help the two teams to hit a combined five home runs and the four homers by the Kernels sets a new season high. Its also just the seventh time this year the Kernels have come back to win a game when trailing after the eighth inning.

The Kernels scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning as Matt Long hit a two run homer and Jose Jimenz added a two run single. Johnny Hellweg (1-3), working his second inning of relief, worked around a hit batter and a walk in the ninth for his first Kernels win. Jon Pokorny (4-5) took the loss for Wisconsin.

Kernels starter Max Russell allowed six runs on eight hits, walked four and struck out two over 4.2 innings. He left the game in the fifth inning after taking a line drive off his leg as a precautionary measure. Jeremy Cruz went 3-5 with a run scored in his first game since August 8th, and Jon Karcich drew two walks and scored three runs after his home run in the third inning.

With the win, the Kernels improve to 28-21 in the MWL second half and 71-46 overall. Wisconsin falls to 24-26 and 50-68.

After an off day on Tuesday, the Kernels open a seven game home stand on Wednesday, August 18th with games against Kane County and Wisconsin. It's a Mix 96.5 FM/WMT AM 600 Winning Wednesday where a lucky fan, age 18 and older, could win $10,000 if the Kernels perform a certain feat in the correct inning. Gates open at 5:30 pm and first pitch between the Kernels and Cougars is set for 6:35 pm.

Tickets may be purchased on-line at www.kernels.com, or by calling the Kernels Ticket Office at 896-7560. Ticket office hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, and 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday. The upcoming home stand continues through Tuesday, August 24th.