CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Freisis Adames and Taylor Floyd combined to hold the Cedar Rapids Kernels to no hits over the seven-inning first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Perfect Game Field. Adames went five innings and Floyd tossed the last two innings to close out the 9-1 victory.
The Kernels (9-13) took advantage of two walks and some soft contact to score a run in the bottom of the fourth inning without a hit. Adames walked the first two batters in the inning. He got Wander Javier to send a slow roller back to the mound and Adames’s only play was to first base. Jair Camargo drove in the run with a slow chopper over the mound. Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle was playing in on the grass, but he had to range well to his right to field the ball and his only play was to first base for the sure out.
Wisconsin (11-11) responded in the top of the fifth. Kekai Rios and Chad McClanahan started the rally on back-to-back singles with one out. A wild pitch moved pinch-runner Jesús Lujano and McClanahan into scoring position. David Hamilton cashed in both runners with a triple to the corner in right field. It was Hamilton’s fourth triple of the season.
Korry Howell followed with a single to right-center too drive in Hamilton for a 3-1 lead.
Adames walked the first batter he faced in the bottom of the fifth inning, but retired the next three batters to maintain the lead and keep the Kernels hitless.
The Timber Rattlers offense added five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Hamilton knocked in the first two runs of the frame with a single to right with the bases loaded. Howell followed that with a two-run double off the wall in left. Je’Von Ward moved his hitting streak to nine games with an RBI single to get Howell home and the Rattlers were up 8-1.
Hamilton ended the game with four RBI and two runs scored while Howell knocked in three runs for the Wisconsin offense.
Taylor Floyd took over for Adames to start the bottom of the sixth. Adames hit a batter, walked three, allowed a run, and struck out one in his five innings.
Floyd retired the Kernels in order in the sixth on a strikeout and two grounders. The second groundout was a weakly hit ball to third by Wander Javier. Yeison Coca charged, fielded the ball cleanly, and his throw to first beat Javier by a half step. Floyd closed out the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
The no-hitter was the first by the Timber Rattlers since May 4, 2012 when Chad Thompson and Mark Williams combined on a nine-inning no-hitter at Clinton.
Wisconsin had had five no-hitters since 1995 and three of them have been at Cedar Rapids. Derrick Van Dusen tossed a nine-inning no-no against the Kernels at old Veterans Memorial Stadium on August 27, 2001. Jake Odorizzi and Adrian Rosario pitched a combined no-hitter in Cedar Rapids on August 24, 2010.
Game two
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers found something to do for an encore after tossing a no-hitter in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Perfect Game Field. The Rattlers won game two 6-1 to record the sweep of the twinbill and also carried another no-hitter deep into the game before giving up a hit.
Wisconsin (12-11) jumped to a 2-0 lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning. Je’Von drew a walk. Gabriel García followed with a double to the gap in right-center and Ward raced home with the game’s first run. Thomas Dillard kept the inning going with a walk. Then, Carlos Rodríguez singled to drive in García for a 2-0 lead.
Cristían Sierra, making his first professional start, followed the lead of Freisis Adames and Taylor Floyd in game one of the doubleheader. Sierra pitched four hitless innings, walked two and struck out three against the Kernels.
The Timber Rattlers offense added to their lead in the top of the fifth. Chad McClanahan launched a lead-off homer to right for a 3-0 lead. David Hamilton was next and he doubled. Korry Howell drove in Hamilton with a single and it was 4-0.
Jesús Lujano added to the Wisconsin lead with an RBI single to score Dillard in the top of the sixth.
Nash Walters, the eventual winner of the game, took over for Sierra and worked around a one-out error in the bottom of the fifth.
The Kernels (9-14) got their first hit of the doubleheader when Seth Grey’s broken bat blooper dropped in right field with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Wisconsin pitching staff had held the Kernels hitless since the sixth inning of Friday night’s game, a stretch of 16-1/3 innings.
Dillard drove in the final Wisconsin run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
Trey Cabbage broke up the shutout bid with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning off Arman Sabouri. That was it for the Kernels though. Sabouri retired the next three batters without incident to secure the win and the doubleheader sweep.In the twinbill, Wisconsin outscored the Kernels 14-2 and outhit them 19-2.
Hamilton had four hits, drove in four runs, and scored three runs for the Rattlers while Howell had three hits, walked twice, scored two runs, and drove in four runs during the doubleheader.
Ward extended his hitting streak to ten games with a single in the top of the seventh inning.
The Timber Rattlers have now won four games in a row.
The final game of the six-game series is set for Sunday afternoon at Perfect Game Field. Justin Jarvis (0-3, 4.32) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Ben Gross (0-0, 4.97) has been named the starting pitcher for the Kernels. Game time is set for 2:05 pm.
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