Peoria Chiefs at Cedar Rapids Kernels
April 8th, 2004
| Peoria |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
|
|
5 |
8 |
2 |
| Cedar Rapids |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
6 |
8 |
1 |
E-Parker, Jaramillo, Brown, LOB PEO-10, CR-8, 2B-Pali, Peel, 3B-Haerther, Cosby, Wood, HR-Evans
WP-Zimmermann, HBP-Wood (Michael), Evans (Rodriguez), BB-Haerther, Balkcom, IBB-Duenas (Jordan), SO-Peel 3
Nick Monaco, Jesse Redwine
T-3:36, A-1,817
How They Scored
Top of 1st
Terry Evans hit a two out, two run, opposite field home run to right, scoring Cody Haerther.
Top of 4th
Tyler Parker scored on the back half of a two out, double steak with Matt Pagnozzi
Top of 5th
John Santor's two out bloop single to second scored Cody Haerther, who had tripled.
Bottom of 6th
Brandon Wood's one out triple to center scored Quan Cosby, who had tripled. Wood scored on Warner Madrigal's sacrifice fly to right, with Madrigal reaching on an error. Matt Pali's two out double to right field corner scored Madrigal and Matt Brown, who had singled.
Top of 10th
Matt Pagnozzi's two out single right scored Terry Evans, who had a leadoff walk.
Bottom of 10th
Quan Cosby singled leading off and scored on a two out wild pitch.
Bottom of 11th
Blake Balkcom walked leading off and scored on Aaron Peel's one out double to left center.
Peoria Journal Star
by Ryan Ori
Cedar Rapids designated hitter Aaron Peel used a short memory to provide a memorable moment in a Midwest League opener Thursday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
After striking out in his first three at bats, Peel had a game ending double in the 11th inning to down the Peoria Chiefs 6-5.
"I was feeling a little down before I went up to bat, but you'rejust as good as your last at bat," Peel said, "I kept that in mind, You can always be the hero, you know."
Chiefs reliever Brantley Jordan surrendered a leadoff walk to Blake Balkcom in the 11th. Matt Pali bunted him to second before the Chiefs intentionally walked No 8. hitter Tommy Duenas with one out.
On the first pitch he saw, Peel hit a fastball to deep left centerfield, eluding the diving effort of Peoria left fielder Cody Haerther.
Kernels manager Bobby Magallanes said he never considered pinch hitting for Peel.
"Not at all," he said, "To me, you've got to give a guy a chance right there to redeem himself,"
The Chiefs took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th on Matt Pagnozzi's two out, two strike single to right field.
But in the bottom of the inning. Chiefs closer Jason Burch threw a pair of wild pitches to tie the game.
"It comes down to making some mistakes," Chiefs manager Joe Cunningham said.
"We swung the bats pretty good, but the little things win you ballgames," he said, "Anybody yo ask, little things win you games."
Cleanup hitter Terry Evans got the scoring started for Peoria, going the opposite way for a 390 foot home run to right center to make it 2-0 in the first inning.
Tyler Parker reached on an error in the top of the fourth and moved to third on Pagnozzi's single to left field.
The Chiefs then executed a successful double steal. Pagnozzi's theft of second base drew a throw from Kernels' catcher Tommy Duenas, and Parker raced home ahead of second baseman Howard Kendrick's return throw to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead.
Peoria ran the lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Haerther lined a triple over center fielder Quan Cosby's head. Haerther scored on a looping single by John Santor that bounced off Kendrick's glove on a driving attempt.
Chiefs starter Mark Michael was cruising until a four run sixth inning, fooling batters with his sinker to the tune of six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings before getting in trouble with hanging curveballs.
"I threw well for the first five innings, but I started getting the ball up there in the sixth and they started hitting the ball around a bit," Michael said, "It seemed like everything they saw they pretty much had a good piece of wood on it."
Cosby and Brandon Wood tripled to produce the first run. Wood then scored on Warner Madrigal's fly ball to right field. Parker lined up to make a throw to the plate, but the ball popped out of his glove on what would have been the second out.
Matt Brown singled to set up a pair of unearned runs on Pali's double down the right field line, which tied the game at 4.
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Jeff Johnson
You'll have to excuse Aaron Peel if he felt an extreme lack of confidence as he walked up to home plate to hit in the bottom of the 11th inning last night. The Cedar Rapids Kernels designated hitter had been anything but a hitter all game. Peel swing and missed for strike three no once, not twice, but four times. Four straight times to be exact. In baseball vernacular that's what they call the Golden Sombrero. It's not a complimentary term.
"I was feeling a little down when I went up hit there," Peel admitted. "But you're only as good as your last at bat, so I kept that in mind. You've just got to try to get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it." He did, and he did.
Peel smashed the first pitch he saw to the gap in left center field, his one out double scoring Blake Balkcom from second base and giving the Kernels a 6-5 season-opening win over the Peoria Chiefs before 1,817 fans at Memorial Stadium. The come from behind win was a nice begining to the 2004 Midwest League campaign for the men of corn.
"This just shows what this team is about," said Kernel shortstop Brandon Wood, "A lot of us played together last year in Provo, Utah, and that's how we did it there. We play hard until the game is over. We proved that again tonight that we can come back after being behind and win a ballgame." "In spring training we showed that we're a good late inning offensive club," said Kernels manager Bobby Magallanes. "We came back quite a few times, showed the ability to come back. That's just the character of this team. Everone battles. Really, it's not suprising to come back like that with the team we've got. We've got that type of character."
The Kernels trailed 4-0 after five innings and weren't doing anything offensivley against Peoria starting pitcher Mark Michael, who had limited Cedar Rapids to one hit. Then the bottom of the sixth rolled around, and everything changed. Quan Cosby and Wood hit triples for the Kernels first run. Wood scored on a Warner Madrigal sacrifice fly, with Madrigal reaching when Peoria right fielder Tyler Parker dropped the ball for an error. Matt Pali's two out double into the right field corner eventually scored Madrigal and Matt Brown (who had singled) with the tying runs.
Peoria then scored on a run in the top of the 10th inning for a 5-4 lead, only to have the Kernels tie it back up when Cosby scored from third on a two out Jason Burch wild pitch. Balkcom walked against Chiefs reliever Brantly Jordan leading off and was sacrificed to second. Tommy Duenas was intentionally walked to get to ninth place hitter Peel. Jordan threw a fastball right dwon the middle ont he first pitch and.... well you know the rest.
"That's a confidence builder for him," Magallanes said. "That's just how wer're made as baseball players." said Wood. "We're always taught that we're only as good as our last at bat. Right now, Peel is pretty darned good. He gets the game winner the first time out."
Kernels knowledge
The teams play the second game of their three game series tonight at 6:30. It's right hander Kevin Jepsen (6-3), 2.65 era for the Kernels last season) getting the pitching start for the Kernels and righty Jordan Pals (4-6, 3.93 in rookie ball) throwing for Peoria.
Peoria left fielder Cody Haerther has grandparents who live in Cedar Rapids: Les and Irene Haerther. Haerther had a triple and walk in five plate appearances last night.
Chiefs catcher Matt Pagnozzi is the nephew of former major league catcher Tom Pagnozzi.
Peoria Journal Star
by Ryan Ori
Cedar Rapids designated hitter Aaron Peel used a short memory to provide a memorable moment in a Midwest League opener Thursday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
After striking out in his first three at bats. Peel had a game ending double in the 11th inning to down the Peoria Chiefs 6-5.
"I was feeling a little down before I went up to bat, but you're just as good as your last at bat," Peel said. "I kep that in mind. You can always be the hero, you know."
Chiefs reliever Brantley Jordan surrendered a leadoff walk to Blake Balkcom in the 11th. Matt Pali bunted him to second before the Chiefs intentionally walked No. 8 hitter Tommy Duenas with one out.
On the first pitch he saw, Peel hit a fastball to deep left centerfield, eluding the diving effort of Peoria left fielder Cody Haerther.
Kernels manager Bobby Magallanes said he never considered pinch hitting for Peel. "Not at all, he said, "To me, you've got to give a guy a chance right there to redeem himself."
The Chiefs took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th on Matt Pagnozzi's two out, two strike single to right field.
But in the bottom of the inning, Chiefs closer Jason Burch threw a pair of wild pitches to tie the game.
"It comes down to making some mistakes," Chiefs manager Joe Cunningham said. "We swung the bats pretty good, but the little things win you ball games. Anybody you ask, little things win you games."
Cleanup hitter Terry Evans got the the scoring started for Peoria, going the oppisite way for a 390 foot home run to right center field to make it 2-0 in the first inning.
Tyler Parker reached on an error in the top of the fourth and moved to third on Pagnozzi's single to left field. The Chiefs then executed a succesful double steal, Pagnozzi's theft of second drew a throw from Kernels catcher Tommy Duenas, and Parker raced home ahead of second baseman Howard Kendrick's return throw to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead.
Peoria ran the lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Hearther lined a triple over centerfielder Quan Cosby's head. Haerther scored on a looping single by John Santor that bounced off Kendricks' glove on a diving attempt.
Chiefs starter Mark Michael was cruising until a four run sixth inning, fooling batters with his sinker to the tune of six strikeouts in 5.2 innings before getting in trouble with hanging curveballs.
"I threw well for the first five innings, but I started getting the ball up there in the sixth and they started hitting the ball around a little bit." Michael said. "It seemed like everything they saw, they pretty much had a good piece of wood on it."
Cosby and Brandon Wood tripled to produce the first run. Wood then scored on Warner Madrigal's fly ball to right field. Parker lined up to make a throw to the plate, but the ball poped out of his glove on what would have been the second out.
Matt Brown singled to set up a pair unearned runs on Pali's double down the right field line which tie the game at 4.