It was “Superman T-shirt Giveaway Night” for the Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday night, but in the end, the Kernels would have needed the “real” Man of Steel to emerge from the crowd of 4,580 at Veterans Memorial Stadium to avoid a 6-2 extra-inning loss to the visiting Peoria Chiefs.

Through the first seven innings, the Kernels hitters were anything but super as the Peoria pitching limited Cedar Rapids to just four singles and a J.D. Williams triple that was wasted in the Kernels’ third inning.

The Chiefs scored first on Patrick Wisdom’s 10th home run of the season in their half of the fourth inning, then added a second run in the top of the eighth inning to take a 2-0 lead.

But Byron Buxton and Dalton Hicks ended the Kernels’ hitting drought in the Kernels’ half of the eighth inning.

Buxton got things going with a lead-off line drive single to center field. He stole second base and advanced to third base on a deep fly ball by Williams.

After a ground out, Hicks powered a long, deep fly ball that carried over the picnic area in straight-away left field for a two-run home run that tied the game at two runs apiece.

The eighth inning dramatics ended up sending the game in to extra innings still tied at 2-2, but the Chiefs scored four unearned runs in the top of the 10th inning for the win.

Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Brett Lee gave the Kernels seven strong innings, limiting the Chiefs to a single run on Wisdom’s solo home run. Lee struck out five Chiefs hitters and spread out eight hits.

Kernels Manager Jake Mauer was happy with Lee’s work. “He (Lee) was excellent and their guy (Chiefs starting pitcher Joe Cuda) went toe to toe with him.”

Mauer couldn’t help but lament the way the game ended, however.

“They chop three or four balls in the 10th inning and win the game. That’s baseball. It’s just a shame. The boys battled,” he said.

It wasn’t all bad news for the Cedar Rapids club, however. The Kernels saw their magic number to clinch the first-half division title drop to 2 when Beloit lost its game to the Clinton LumberKings, 9-4.

The Kernels remain in a virtual first place tie with Beloit with two games remaining in the first half of the season for both teams. The Kernels have played two fewer games than the Snappers, so if the two teams remain tied after Sunday’s games, the Kernels will win the Western Division by virtue of having a slightly better winning percentage.

The Kernels face the Chiefs again at 5:05 Saturday. Cedar Rapids could clinch the first half division title with a win over Peoria coupled with a Beloit loss to Clinton.

PEORIA (6): Valera, 2B, 6 0 2 0, Vargas, SS, 5 0 2 0, Schaffer, 1b, 5 0 1 0, Walton, lf-rf, 4 2 1 0, Wisdom, 3b, 5 1 3 1, Martini, cf, 5 1 3 1, Montero, dh, 4 1 0 1, Parque, rf, 3 0 0 0, Perez, ph-lf, 1 1 1 3, Velazco, c, 5 0 0 0, Cuda, p, 0 0 0 0, Llorens, p, 0 0 0 0, Scanio, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 43 6 13 6.

KERNELS (2): Buxton, cf, 5 1 2 0, Williams, lf, 5 0 2 0, Polanco, ss, 4 0 0 0, Hicks, 1b, 5 1 2 2, Walker, rf, 4 0 2 0, Harrison, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Grimes, dh, 4 0 0 0, Arias, c, 4 0 1 0, Pimentel, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Lee, p, 0 0 0 0, Merck, p, 0 0 0 0, Gruver, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 39 2 9 2.

Peoria   000 100 010 4 - 6 13 2
Kernels  000 000 020 0 - 2  9 2

Cuda, Llorens (7), Scanio (9) and Velazco. Lee, Merck (8), Gruver (10) and Arias. W-Scanio (2-1). L-Gruver (4-2). 2B-Walton (11). 3B-Williams (3). HR-Wisdon (10), Perez (1), Hicks (10). SB-Buxton (28). E-Parque (1), Vargas (4), Pimentel (13), Harrison (15). T-2:52. A-4,580.