Cedar Rapids Kernels Baseball

Kernels rattle Timber Rattlers, 7-3

APPLETON, Wis. - The Cedar Rapids Kernels enjoyed another good night in Wisconsin Tuesday with a 7-3 conquest of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers before 1,093 fans at Fox Cities Stadium.

Jorge Fernandez went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs to lead the Kernels, whose bats have come alive in the first two games of the series. Nick Gordon was 2-for-4 and drove in two runs, giving him 20 RBIs this season.

Brett Doe was 2-for-3 and walked twice. All told, the Kernels drew nine walks Tuesday night after collecting 10 walks on Monday with greater discipline and patience at the plate. Tanner English walked three times in the leadoff spot for the Kernels.

Mat Batts (3-1, 2.05 ERA) allowed only one earned run in six innings for the victory. Batts also was touched for two unearned runs. He struck out four batters and walked one.

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Kernels make noise in 9-3 victory

APPLETON, Wis. - The Cedar Rapids Kernels took a step in the right direction Monday night with a 9-3 victory over Wisconsin in a Midwest League game before 663 fans at Fox Cities Stadium.

The Kernels, who have struggled the past two weeks scoring runs, collected six extra-base hits, drew 10 walks and scored runs in five different innings.

T.J. White led the way with three hits for the Kernels, including a pair of doubles. Max Murphy had two hits and drove in three runs.

Jared Wilson (3-0) allowed three runs in six innings for the victory in his longest stint of the season. He struck out seven batters.

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Kernels' Navarreto goes to DL

Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher Brian Navarreto has been placed on the 7-day disabled list with a left wrist sprain.

To take his place on the roster, the Minnesota Twins announced Monday that catcher Rainis Silva will join the Kernels from Extended Spring Training.

The Twins signed Silva as a non-drafted free agent on July 9, 2012 and he spent last season with the GCL Twins, batting .270 with nine doubles and 20 RBI in 41 games.

Navarreto was batting .138 (8-58) with two RBI in 16 games. He has thrown out 74 percent of runners attempting a stolen base.

Silva will join the team Monday night in Appleton, Wis., and be available for the Kernels' game at Wisconsin.

Kernels fall quietly to Clinton

Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Jake Mauer does not plan to hold any closed-door meetings with his struggling ballclub. No tantrums, no yelling and screaming, no gimmicks.

Something needs to be done, however. The team batting has dipped to .232, near the bottom of the Midwest League, and the Kernels are not scoring enough runs to be successful.

The Kernels had another quiet game Sunday afternoon in a 5-2 loss to Clinton before 1,141 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Cedar Rapids has lost seven of its last nine games and has scored only 16 runs in those nine outings, an average of less than two runs per game.

"The frustrating thing is, guys will show flashes and you think we're on our way and they revert back," said Mauer.

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Kernels tag Clinton in 13 innings

It took only two batters for the Cedar Rapids Kernels to accomplish something Saturday night that they failed to do in nine innings on Friday night: Get a hit off a Clinton pitcher.

It took the home team 13 innings and four hours, however, to end their three-game losing streak and beat the LumberKings, 7-6, in front of a fireworks-night crowd of 2,342 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

After Tanner English led off the Kernels’ half of the first inning with a walk, Nick Gordon lined a single to left field for the first of what would be 12 Cedar Rapids hits.

Gordon saved his real heroics for the bottom of the ninth inning, when his two-out single to right field plated T.J. White with the tying run and sent the game to extra innings at 6-6.

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Clinton hurls no-hitter at Kernels

It may have been inevitable, with the way the Cedar Rapids Kernels have been struggling to hit for the past two weeks, but they finally reached the lowest of offensive lows Friday night.

The Kernels fell victim to a combined no-hitter by three Clinton pitchers, losing 2-0 before 3,068 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The game lasted only 1 hour and 58 minutes.

Clinton starter Daniel Missaki tossed seven innings of hitless ball, not even allowing a base-runner until Kernels first baseman Trey Vavra worked a full-count walk with two outs in the seventh inning.

Kody Kerski and Troy Scott each added another hitless inning to complete the 23rd no-hitter in LumberKings history.

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Granite promoted, Fernandez activated

Outfielder Zack Granite has been promoted by the Minnesota Twins from Cedar Rapids to Fort Meyers of the Florida State League and will be replaced on the Kernels' roster by catcher J.J. Fernandez.

The moves were announced Friday morning by the Twins.

Granite was a member of the Kernels 2015 Opening Day roster and was batting .358 with five doubles, seven stolen bases and five RBI in 19 games for the Kernels.

Fernandez is being activated from they 7-day disabled list. He went on the DL on April 19th with a concussion. He is batting .293 with three doubles and four RBI. He will be available for Friday night's game against Clinton at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Kernels fall to River Bandits, 4-2

DAVENPORT - The Cedar Rapids Kernels continued to have problems scoring runs Thursday and lost to the Quad Cities River Bandits, 4-2, in a Midwest League game before 2,808 fans at Modern Woodmen Park.

The Kernels (12-9) collected only four hits in the game, although three of them were doubles.

Jacob Nottingham and Derek Fisher socked home runs for the River Bandits (15-6), who won two games in the three-game series.

Zack Granite reached base twice for the Kernels and extended his team-best hitting streak to 10 games with a double down the left-field line to start the game.

Joshua James (1-0) earned his first win for Quad Cities. The right-hander retired 11 in a row at one point and allowed just one hit and struck out three in four shutout innings of relief.

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Kernels blanked by River Bandits, 4-0

DAVENPORT - The offensive woes continued for the Cedar Rapids Kernels Wednesday night.

The Quad Cities River Bandits blanked the Kernels, 4-0, in a Midwest League game before 1,343 fans at Modern Woodmen Park.

The Kernels beat the Bandits, 1-0, in 11 innings Tuesday and now have scored only one run in 20 innings against Quad Cities. The Kernels grounded into three double plays Wednesday.

The teams meet again Thursday at 7 p.m. in the rubber game of the series.

Mat Batts (2-1) suffered his first loss of the year for Cedar Rapids. The southpaw yielded four runs (three earned) in 6 1/3 innings on seven hits and one walk while striking out six.

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