A gift, but Cedar Rapids Kernels will take it

CEDAR RAPIDS — Don't feel guilty about it. Don't even think about giving it back, because you can't.

You're on a six-game losing streak, nothing's going right, your playoff hopes have gone from great to poor in a week. The other team basically hands you a victory, you just say thanks and move on.

So, thanks, Burlington Bees. The Cedar Rapids Kernels are appreciative of the help you gave them in a much-needed 2-1 win Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

'This game feels good,' said Kernels outfielder Daniel Kihle. 'We got the win, came from behind. It's just a good feeling.'

Finally.

'I thought they competed,' said Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. 'They've been competing. But nothing's coming really easy for us, offensively especially.'

Kihle's one-out single to center field scored Zander Wiel from second base with the winning run. It was the only hit of a two-run eighth inning that saw Cedar Rapids rally thanks to a walk, a wild pitch and a pair of Burlington errors.

A Midwest League rally, they kiddingly call it.

'I knew I'd have to get something to the outfield for us to score,' said Kihle, whose hit came on a two-strike changeup from losing reliever Eric Karch (0-1). 'I wasn't really trying to lift the ball, just hit a line drive. Once I got to two strikes, I was trying to hit it up the middle. I knew he was probably going to go offspeed.'

Wiel had retreated back toward second base when the hump-back liner initially came off Kihle's bat, but Mauer waved him around anyway.

'He battled his tail off and got a big base hit,' Mauer said. 'Zander, I don't know how he scored. He held up (initially), maybe surprised the center fielder there. He didn't quite come in on that ball hard. But the way we've been swinging it, I thought we needed to take a chance there. Roll the dice, and it ended up working out.'

Starting pitcher Miles Nordgren simply was brilliant in seven shutout innings, mixing speeds deftly. Burlington had just three hits against him.

Tanner Lubach homered against reliever Sam Gibbons (2-3) with one out in the top of the eighth to give the Bees the game's first run. Williams Ramirez and Michael Theofanopoulos combined to get the three ninth-inning outs for the Kernels, with Theofanopoulos getting the final one for his second save.

It wasn't routine. With the tying run on first, Michael Pierson hit a ball to the gap that left fielder Kihle and center fielder Brad Hartong converged on.

Neither called it, the two brushed each other, but Hartong held on. The Kernels (34-31) went into Wednesday night two games back of Clinton and two and a half back of Peoria for the two available first-half playoff spots in the Western Division.

Clinton and Peoria played a double-header Wednesday night at Clinton. Cedar Rapids has four games left in the first half, all of them at Quad Cities.

'I wouldn't say we've been tight. I think we've been pretty loose before the games,' Kihle said. 'That's just how baseball goes sometimes. It's a roller coaster.'

'It hasn't been an effort thing, or a lack thereof,' Mauer said. 'Sometimes you just get into those funks where you need a guy to step up and say 'That's it.' They are all really nice guys, they are all trying. But now it comes down to 'That's great, but you've got to produce.' It sounds bad, and you don't mean to sound that bad. But it's reality. There are about 35 more guys that we just signed out of this draft, and they are going to be competing for jobs just like everyone else.'

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