Cedar Rapids rallies past Q-C

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By Steve Batterson | Tuesday, July 1, 2008 11:51 PM CDT | () comments

Jared Bradford would have scripted a different storyline for his professional baseball debut.

“But, you don’t get to choose. You just have to deal with the results,’’ the Quad-City reliever said after Tuesday’s 7-4 Midwest League loss to Cedar Rapids.

Bradford, an 18th-round pick of the Cardinals in the June draft, took the loss in his first appearance for Quad-Cities.

With a crowd of 5,221 looking on at Modern Woodmen Park, the 6-foot-1 right-hander from Louisiana State watched a leadoff walk lead the Kernels to a comeback from a 3-1 deficit.

Bradford threw strikes on his first two pitches to Clay Fuller, but then walked Cedar Rapids’ leadoff hitter in the inning.

After a strikeout, the Kernels collected three straight singles and tied the game on single to center by Ryan Groth.

Cedar Rapids moved ahead to stay at 4-3 when Andrew Romine executed a squeeze to score Tyler Johnson. A throwing error by the Bandits’ Oliver Marmol at second base after a grounder by Hector Estrella allowed Garth to extend the lead and ended Bradford’s first relief appearance.

“It didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, but it felt good to be out there. I was a little excited, not nervous, and I left a couple of pitches up that I didn’t want to,’’ Bradford said.

“I feel bad for (starter Josh) Wilson. He deserved the win and I wasn’t able to hold it for him. The good thing is that I know I’ll be back out there in a day or two, and I’ll learn from this experience. I know that will happen.’’

Wilson scattered four hits in six innings and retired the last eight batters he faced before leaving with a 3-1 lead.

The River Bandits took advantage of two errors by the Kernels’ Groth in left field to open a 2-0 edge, then added a run on a sacrifice fly by Nick Peoples in the fourth inning.

“Wilson threw great. He kept us in it,’’ Quad-City manager Steve Dillard said. “He definitely competed out there.’’

Dillard expects there to be better days for Bradford as well.

“It’s always tough when you walk that first guy, especially after you have him down 0-2,’’ Dillard said. “They didn’t exactly hit him hard, but they found some holes.’’

Cedar Rapids added a two-run homer in the eighth by Julio Perez before Charlie Kingrey pulled the River Bandits within their final score with an RBI groundout in the bottom half of the inning.

Kernels starter Trevor Reckling improved to 6-2, striking out seven and scattering six hits over seven innings to help Cedar Rapids win for the eighth time in its past 11 games.

“That’s not a bad club. They may be last in the league in hitting, but they’ve hit us well all season,’’ Dillard said. “They’ve swung the bats pretty consistently against us and right now, they’re obviously playing pretty good ball.’’

Bandits scoreboard

Score

Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Quad-Cities River Bandits 4

On deck

Cedar Rapids Kernels at Quad-Cities River Bandits, 7 p.m. today, Modern Woodmen Park. Probable pitchers: Cedar Rapids, Robert Fish (7-2, 4.86 ERA); Quad-Cities, Ryan Kulik (0-0, 0.00). Cardinals Mania ticket giveaway and Wacky WINS-Day

Different look

Cedar Rapids rallied from a 2-0 deficit Tuesday, handing Quad-Cities a loss with a different look.

The River Bandits had been 25-11 in games when they scored first this season, including a 14-2 record at Modern Woodmen Park.

That didn’t faze the Kernels, who used a four-run seventh inning to rally for the win and retain a share of first place in the Western Division with their eighth win in 11 games.

Still resting

Quad-City catcher Paul Vazquez missed his second straight game as he continues to be monitored after being struck in the helmet by a pitch during a game at Clinton on Sunday.

The move is precautionary and the black-and-blue Vazquez is expected to return to action soon.

A slight edge

Entering Tuesday’s game, Quad-Cities and Cedar Rapids had met 684 times in Midwest League play. With Tuesday’s win, the Kernels enjoy a 343-342 lead in the series.

Debut times two

Third baseman Brett Wallace won’t be the only 2008 draft pick making his debut tonight at Modern Woodmen Park.

In addition the Cardinals’ first-round pick, Quad-Cities is scheduled to send Ryan Kulik to the mound. Kulik, a left-hander, was St. Louis’ eighth-round pick. He posted a 10-2 record with a 1.72 ERA while striking out a school-record 144 batters this spring at Rowan University.

Box score

CR ab r h bi Q-C ab r h bi

Groth lf 5 1 2 1 Marmol 2b 2 2 0 0

Romine ss 4 0 0 1 Kozma ss 4 0 0 0

Estrella 2b 5 0 0 0 Kingrey rf 4 1 1 1

Navarro 1b 5 0 0 0 Arburr 1b 4 0 0 0

Brossman 3b 3 1 1 0 Rivera dh 4 1 2 0

Fuller dh 3 2 2 0 Bolivar 3b 4 0 2 0

Perez rf 4 1 2 3 Peoples lf 2 0 0 1

Rosenbaum c 4 1 2 1 Espinoza c 4 0 0 0

Johnson cf 3 1 1 0 Ingram cf 3 0 1 0

Totals 36 7 10 6 Totals 31 4 6 2

Cedar Rapids 010 000 420 — 7

Quad-Cities 200 100 010 — 4

E — Groth 2; Marmol. LOB — Cedar Rapids 6; Quad-Cities 4. 2B — Brossman, Johnson, Rosenbaum; Kingrey, Rivera 2. HR — Perez (9). SB — Fuller (25), Johnson (13); Marmol 2 (6), Ingram (6). CS — Groth (3); Bolivar (4). S — Romine. SF — Peoples.

Cedar Rapids IP H R ER BB SO

Reckling (W, 6-2) 7 6 3 3 1 7

Ford 1 0 1 1 0 0

McKiernan 1 0 0 0 0 1

Quad-Cities

Wilson 6 4 1 1 2 3

Bradford (L, 0-1) 2/3 3 4 3 1 1

Parise 11/3 3 2 2 0 3

Spade 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP — Marmol (by Ford), Peoples (by McKiernan). WP — McKiernan. Balk — Reckling. U — Justin Sassaman, Jason Alper. T — 2:37. A — 5,221

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.