Cedar Rapids Kernels at Quad City River Bandits


April 5th, 2002

Kernels
Name POS AB R H RBI
Ransel Melgarejo CF 7 1 2 0
Jeff Mathis DH 5 0 1 0
Casey Kotchman 1B 6 1 1 1
Greg Porter RF 7 0 1 1
Dallas McPherson3B 5 0 1 0
Mike Napoli C 5 0 0 0
Ryan Nevins LF 5 0 0 0
Ed Welch LF 1 0 0 0
Jon Cahill 2B 5 0 0 0
Tommy Murphy SS 6 1 1 0
Bandits
Name POS AB R H RBI
James Tomlin CF 7 0 2 0
Kaulana Kuhaulua SS 8 0 0 0
Joe Mauer C 6 0 2 1
Michael Sandoval 3B 6 1 1 0
Matt Abram 1B 2 0 0 0
Barry Quickstad PR/LF 1 1 1 0
Jesus Merchan PH/2B/LF 1 0 0 0
Cory Agar DH 6 1 1 0
Jason Kubel RF 6 0 1 0
Jake Mauer 2B 2 0 1 1
Digno Torres 1B 2 1 1 1
Brett Tamburrino 2B/LF 6 0 1 1

Cedar Rapids 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 0
Quad City 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 11 2

E-Tomlin, Torres, LOB CR-11, QC-15, 2B-Mathis, Porter, HR-Kotchman (Daws), SB-Napoli, Cahill, HBP-Quickstad, Torres, SACB-Mathis, Cahill, Agar, Tamburrino, GIDP-Kotchman

Kernels
Name IP H R ER BB SO Decison
Jake Woods 4 4 2 2 2 1 ND
Adam Thomas 2 3 0 0 1 1 ND
Steve Andrade 2 0 0 0 2 1 ND
Jonathan Rouwenhorst 3 1 0 0 2 2 ND
Mark O'Sullivan 2 1 1 1 1 3 ND
Jaime Steward 2.2 2 1 1 1 2 L (0-1)

Bandits
Name IP H R ER BB SO Decison
J.D. Durbin 5 2 0 0 0 5 ND
Brian Gates 1 2 1 1 1 0 ND
Josmir Romero 2 0 0 0 1 3 ND
Josh Daws 3 1 1 1 1 2 ND
Jannio Gutierrez 2 2 1 1 3 5 ND
Richard Smart 3 0 0 0 2 4 W (1-0)

HB-O'Sullivan, Steward, SO-Melgarejo, Mathis, Kotchman 2, Porter, McPherson 2, Napoli 4, Nevins, Welch, Cahill 2, Murphy 4, Tomlin 2, Kuhaulua, J.Mauer, Sandoval, Abram, Agar, Kubel, Tamburrino 2, BB-Mathis, Kotchman, McPherson 1, Napoli 2, Welch, Cahill, J.Mauer 2, Sandoval, Abram 2, Kubel, Ja.Mauer, Torres, IBB-McPherson, Tomlin
U-Todd Walters, Josh Miller
T-5:03, A-481

Cedar Rapids Gazette
by Gazette staff report

Joe Mauer the number one overall selection in last year's amateur baseball draft, hit an RBI single and scored Digno Torres in bottom of the 16th inning to give the Quad City River Bandits a 4-3 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday.

Greg Porter doubled home a run in the top of the 13th inning to give the Kernels a 3-2 lead, but the River Bandits tied the game at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the 13th.

Casey Kotchman tied the game in the top of the ninth inning with a solo home run for the Kernels.

Quad City scored their first two runs in the bottom of the second.

Richard Smart (1-0) picked up the victory for Quad City. Jaime Steward (0-1) took the loss for Cedar Rapids. The game last five hours, six minutes.


Quad City Times
by Steve Batterson

After hitting the game winning single to end the Quad City River Bandits 4-3, 16 inning marathon win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday night, cathcer Joe Mauer had big plans.

"I'm ready to go home and go to bed. That was a long one." Mauer said.

Ther was just on hitch in Mauer's plans. "Since we're just moving in, we don't have any sheets yet. I think we're headed to Wal-Mart first. Then I'm headed to bed."

Mauer went the distance behind the plate at John O'Donnell Stadium, helping six Bandits pitchers earn a seven hit win.

Finishing off a 2 for 6 game, Mauer finished off the Kernels by slicing a two out pitch into left centerfield to score Digno Torres with the winning run.

Torres was hit by a pitch to opne the inning before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Tamburrino. Cedar Rapids walked James Tomblin intentionally and after Kaulana Kuhaulua popped out, Mauer evened the River Bandits' record a 1-1.

"The game showed the kind of character this team has," Mauer said. "Even after they came back and got the lead (in the 13th inning) there was still enough fight left in us to tie it and then win it."

River Bandits manager Jeff Carter hopes the way Quad City manufatured it's game winning run can provide a lesson.

"It would have been easy to lay down and quit after they went one up in the 13th, but we did the things we had to after that to win." Carter said.

Quad City had to rally after the Kernels' Greg Porter doubled in a run with two outs in the 13th inning to give Cedar Rapids it's first lead of the night at 3-2.

The River Bandits answered in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game on a single to left by Torres.

Cedar Rapids, which had forced the extra innings when Casey Kotchman homered to open the ninth threatended again in the 14th. A walk and an error allowed the Kernels' Ryan Nevins and Jon Cahill to reach second and third with no outs, but River Bandits Richard Smart worked out of the jam.

Notes
He would have preferred a win, but Quad City River Bandits starting pitcher J.D. Durbin can live with a solid initial start to the 2002 season.

Durbin provided Quad City with it's second straight strong start on the mound with a five inning effort Friday, striking out five and scattering a pair of hits. He did not walk a batter.

The outing followed a nine strikeout, two hit performance by Jim Abbott in Thursday's season opener.

"That's what we're capable of as a pitching staff." Durbin said. "It felt good to come out and throw the way I was capable of throwing."

His effort was the first of six quality efforts by River Bandits pitchers in Friday's 4-3, 16 inning win over Cedar Rapids.

A second round pick of the Twins in the 2000 draft, Durbin didn't waiting untill the second game of the season to make his first start.

"In some ways, the pressure is off, Game one was out of the way, and I was able to just go out and pitch." Durbin said. "THe first night is always and adjustment period for everybody. The second night, you just want to play. It would have been nice to get a win, but I'll take this start and build on it."

Still Running
Ron Plein, known as "The Roadrunner" to fans in Quad City and Cedar Rapids, is back with the Kernels as the team's equitment manager this season.

Plein worked for the Quad City Angels in the 1980s and went to Cedar Rapids when the Angels affiliated team shifted from Quad City to Cedar Rapids in 1993.

Plein who no longer wears a whistle around his neck to prevent kids from running in the stands, isn't the only former River Bandits enjoying a homecoming in the current series.

Cedar Rapids manager Todd Claus was an infielder in the Angels organization for four years and batter .205 in 87 games for the 1992 River Bandits. Cedar Rapids is his first managerial asssignment.

A cold start
Thursday's cold weather kept fans away from opening night games throughout the Midwest League with one exception.

Despite a 39 degree game time temperature. Dayton attracted 8,754 fans to it's home opener. The total was more than Thursday's other six openers combined. South Bend and Michigan had crowds similar to the Bandits paid attendence of 1,041

Beloit and Burlington opened with crowds of 788 and 502, respectively.

How They Scored

Bandits Second
Michael Sandoval singled to center. Matt Abram struck out. Cory Agar singled to right, moving Sandoval to second. Jason Kubel walked, loading the bases. Jake Mauer singled to right scoring Sandoval moving Agar to third and Kubel to second. Agar scored. Kubel was forced out at third on a fielder's choice by Brett Tamburrino. James Tomlin grounded out to short stop.
Bandits 2, Kernels 0

Kernels Sixth
Tommy Murphy singled to center took second on Tomlin's fielding error in center. Ransel Melgarejo singled to center, advancing Murphy to third. Mathis walks. Murphy scored, Melgarejo took third when Casey Kotchman grounded into a double play. Greg Porter flew out to left.
Bandits 2, Kernels 1

Kernels Ninth
Kotchman homered to right center. Porter grounded out to first. Dallas McPherson grounded out to short stop. Mike Napoli struck out.
Bandits 2, Kernels 2

Kernels 13th
Melgarejo singled to right, was sacrificed to second by Mathis. Kotchman struck out. Porter doubled to left center, scoring Melgarejo. McPherson was intentionally walked. Mike Napoli struck out.
Kernels 3, Bandits 2

Bandits 13th
Barry Quickstad was hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second by Agar. Kubel struck out. Digno Torres singled to left, scoring QUickstad. Tamburrino struck out.
Bandits 3, Kernels 3

Bandits 16th
Torres was hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second by Tamburrino. Tomlin was intentionally walked. Kaulana Kuhaulua poppd out. Joe Mauer singled to left center, scoring Torres. Two outs when winning run scored.
Bandits 4, Kernels 3