Kernels rally late to tip Peoria, 7-5 (video)

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Brent Del Chiaro publicly called out his hitters after another awful performance in a loss Sunday afternoon, saying they had to begin helping out the team.

So they did.

Five runs in their last two at-bats rallied the Kernels to an uplifting 7-5 win over Peoria before 2,228 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium. A club that has looked dead in the water when it comes to a first-half playoff spot in the Midwest League's Western Division is just two games out of one after taking three of four in this big series.

There are 19 games remaining in the first half, including the next six on the road at South Bend and West Michigan.

“It was good to see them come back and battle,” Del Chiaro said. “The biggest thing we're preaching right now is ‘Why can't we have that in the first inning? Why can't we have that focus and energy all the time?' … We're hoping we can build some confidence off of this and roll right into this road trip.”

Cedar Rapids (26-25) entered Memorial Day ranked next-to-last in hitting in the 16-team MWL. To say it has been riding the struggle bus is an understatement.

But perhaps it was the hot-and-humid weather that broke them out of this offensive funk. The Kernels had 13 hits, scoring twice in the seventh and three times in the eighth for the victory.

“We're only a couple of games out of the playoffs,” said Kernels first baseman Brandon Decker. “To take three out of four from a good team like Peoria, that's huge.”

Ricky Alvarez had a leadoff double that began the seventh-inning uprising, then singled off the left-field wall in the eighth to tie the game at 5-5. Wes Hatton's RBI grounder put the Kernels ahead for the first time, and Jerod Yakubik followed with an insurance RBI single.

Naturally, the win didn't come easily in the ninth. New closer Daniel Tillman had to work out of a bases-loaded situation by getting Arismendy Alcantara to chop to second.

Here is video of Hatton's eighth-inning at-bat that produced the go-ahead run. Why Peoria had its middle infielders in instead of at double-play depth is a good question.

Cost it the game.

http://youtu.be/SjVItf2WGyA