Kernels sweep Quad Cities

DAVENPORT - Hopefully the last one out of Modern Woodmen Park didn't forget to turn the lights out on the ferris wheel beyond left field.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels turned the lights out on the baseball club with the best winning percentage in all of full-season minor-league baseball, scoring twice in the 11th inning and beating Quad Cities, 3-1, Thursday night to sweep their best-of-3 Midwest League first-round playoff series.

The River Bandits went 88-50 in the regular season, but it was the Kernels who played better in these two games. Cedar Rapids takes on Peoria in the best-of-3 Western Division championship series that begins Saturday night at Peoria.

Games 2 is Sunday afternoon at 4:05 at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Game 3, if needed, is Monday night at 6:35 at Cedar Rapids.

'We're the hottest team in minor-league baseball,” smiled Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. 'It was just like we talked about. We pitched, caught the ball and didn't make any mistakes ... Pitching and defense, that's who we are, and that's how we're going to keep going on.”

T.J. White walked against losing relief pitcher Angel Heredia leading off the 11th. LaMonte Wade dropped down a bunt, with QC catcher Garrett Stubbs ill-advisedly throwing to second to try and nab White.

Not only was his throw late, but it bounced past shortstop Kristian Trompiz and into short left-center field to move White to third. Wade went to second on a high throw from Trompiz past third base.

With the infield in, Chris Paul then hit an opposite-field squibber that eked past diving first baseman Bryan Muniz and into right field to score two. Nick Anderson came on to throw a perfect bottom of the 11th, and Cedar Rapids moves on.

What it is with the Kernels and guys with NBA names, by the way?

'Just excited to get that opportunity with runners in scoring position,” said Paul, a 2015 draft pick from the University of California, who joined the Kernels in August. 'I just tried to get a good pitch to hit, got one and got just enough of it to squeak it by. Whatever gets it done. All the way around, we played an awesome team game tonight.”

'We executed,” Mauer said. 'That's what we told the guys. When you are evenly matched, whoever executes is going to win.”

Cedar Rapids scored three unearned runs in the series, including two in Thursday night's 5-2 win.

This one was just a good old-fashioned pitcher's dual between CR's Sam Gibbons and QC's Brock Dykxhoorn. The right-handers allowed four hits each in their clutch starts, Gibbons' covering eight innings and Dykxhoorn's 6 2/3.

Edgar Corcino led off with the C.R. fourth with a grounder to first that bounced off Muniz and into foul territory for an error. White walked, and he and Corcino were bunted ahead by Wade.

Paul's ensuing routine grounder to shortstop scored Corcino. Quad Cities was playing its middle infielders back and corner guys up on the play.

Quad Cities came right back in the bottom of the fourth to tie it. With one out, Jason Martin lined a ball toward the gap, with right fielder Corcino getting a late jump on it, letting it bounce in front of him, then getting behind him for a triple.

Martin scored on Nick Tanielu's line-drive single to left. Quad Cities had a chance to take the lead in the fifth after Stubbs led off with a double, but Wade gunned him down at the plate after fielding a two-out single up the middle by Bobby Boyd.

Catcher Brian Navarreto caught the ball a shade up the line and dove back to the plate to tag Stubbs.

'Just getting ahead was the main thing for me tonight, I think,” Gibbons said. 'I fell behind some guys in the early part of the game, it helped to have quick six, seven and eight (innings). I think we kind of took the momentum there. Then we were able to score some runs on kind of a weird play. We'll take them.”

'I thought we matched up good with them. I really did,” Mauer said. 'Especially with Jorge and Gibby going, I thought they really matched up well with them because they can slow the ball down. They've got a lot of fastball hitters on that team.”

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