KERNELS 3, BEES 2: Late-inning magic has done a disappearing act

By John Bohnenkamp

CEDAR RAPIDS — Finding magic in the late innings was something the Burlington Bees did a lot in the first half of the Class A Midwest League season.

Now? Not so much.

The Bees were within one strike of getting a win on Friday night. Then Tyler Webb dumped a two-run double into right field, leading the Cedar Rapids Kernels to a 3-2 win.

Burlington led 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, but Tyler Smith (5-3) gave up back-to-back singles to Gilberto Celestino and Gabe Snyder, and two batters later both were steaming around the bases to score on Webb’s double that fell in between center fielder Spencer Griffin and right fielder Nonie Williams.

“They always say when you’re up 2-1, you’re a bloop and a blast away (from losing),” Bees manager Jack Howell said. “This was two hard hits, and then a bloop.”

Burlington fell to 4-11 in the second half. But deep inside that record are some other numbers.

The Bees are 2-5 in the half in one-run games, 0-4 in two-run games.

They’ve been close, but can’t finish. Which is something they were doing before the All-Star break. The Bees have 21 wins in one-run games.

The Bees were swept in the four-game home-and-home series to the Kernels. Burlington led in three of the games, and the Kernels won two games in their final at-bat.

“Two of these four games, we had the lead in the ninth and lost it,” Howell said. “There’s not a whole lot you can say. When you have leads in the ninth, you normally win.”

This was another pitching masterpiece. Bees starter Kyle Tyler allowed one run and struck out seven in seven innings. Cedar Rapids starter Josh Winder struck out eight and allowed three hits in seven innings.

Winder retired 15 consecutive Bees from the third through seventh innings. Tyler retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced.

“Those guys matched each other pitch for pitch,” Howell said. “They were both good.”

Two of Burlington’s four hits were home runs. Alvaro Rubalcaba had one in the third inning, then Tim Millard hit one in the eighth to give the Bees a 2-1 lead.

“In a game like this, two runs aren’t going to do it,” Howell said.

Smith entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and struck out all three Kernels he faced, part of a streak of six consecutive Cedar Rapids strikeouts.

In the ninth, he got Jacob Pearson on an easy grounder to second for the first out. Then came the hits, but it looked like Smith had a chance to get out of the inning when Jared Akins popped out before Webb worked the count to 3-2.

But Webb, playing in his first game with the Kernels, popped a ball that fell between Griffin and Williams. Williams had the better play on the ball once it fell, but he couldn’t get a handle on it. Celestino and Snyder, running on the pitch, scored easily.

“That’s why you play to the final out,” Howell said. “We have to find ways to close it out.”

The Bees begin a nine-game homestand with a 6:30 p.m. game on Saturday against Peoria at Community Field.

KERNELS 4, BEES 2: One pitch is enough to lead to loss

By John Bohnenkamp

CEDAR RAPIDS — The final line on Burlington Bees pitcher Luis Alvarado was 89 pitches, 52 for strikes.

One of those strikes was sent over the right-field wall, and it scarred what was otherwise a strong performance by the right-hander.

Jared Akins’ three-run home run in the sixth inning was the biggest hit in a 4-2 win for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in Thursday’s Class A Midwest League game at Perfect Game Field.

To that point, with one out in the inning, it had been a piece of pitching artwork by Alvarado and Cedar Rapids starter Luis Rijo. Combined, they had allowed just three hits until that bottom of the sixth.

Then Gilberto Celestino singled to lead off the sixth, Chris Williams drew a one-out walk, then Akins drilled his home run.

It was enough to make Bees manager Jack Howell shake his head when looking at the final box score.

“Six innings, 90 pitches, three runs on four hits, one home run,” Howell said, surveying Alvarado’s numbers. “One pitch, you know? Ninety pitches, one mistake.

“As I told him, that’s an unbelievable outing. The process is getting him up and down, and he got up and down for six innings. The one thing is, he knows he made one mistake in 90 pitches. And that’s going to happen.”

What pleased Howell was how Alvarado (3-5) finished the inning by striking out Wander Javier and Trevor Casanova.

“He gets two punch-outs,” Howell said. “Which shows that it was just that one mistake. That’s an incredible outing, he has nothing to think about. You’re pitching to good hitters, and hitters hit mistakes.”

Rijo (2-5) never made a costly mistake. He faced just one batter over the minimum in seven innings, striking out 10 and not giving up a walk. The lone hit was Justin Jones’ single to lead off the third inning.

Rijo threw just 14 pitches, 12 for strikes, in the first two innings. He finished with 71 pitches, 56 for strikes.

“He’s a guy with a lot of strikeouts, but not a guy who has a lot of walks,” Howell said. “So that says he can put up a game like that.”

The Bees wouldn’t get any more baserunners until the ninth inning, and they had a chance to tie the game.

Mario Sanjur singled to right field with one out, then Nonie Williams hit a two-run home run. Spencer Griffin was hit in the ribs on the next pitch from Kernels reliever Jose Martinez, but Martinez then struck out Connor Fitzsimons to end the game.

ON DECK: The two teams complete their four-game series with a 6:35 p.m. game on Friday. Burlington’s Kyle Tyler (4-0, 3.64 ERA) faces Cedar Rapids’ Josh Winder (6-1, 2.40).

NOTES: Akins has three home runs against the Bees this season, the most of any Kernel. … Fitzsimons was in the right place at the right time for the second consecutive night. The Kernels had runners on first and third in the eighth inning when Casanova hit a line drive toward first base. Fitzsimons, holding the runner on, caught the liner and stepped on the base for the double play. He turned the same kind of double play in the first inning of Wednesday’s game. … Attendance was 4,639. … The game was played in 2 hours, 11 minutes.

KERNELS 5, BEES 4: Ninth-inning comeback quiets the crowd

By John Bohnenkamp

Mayky Perez walked to the Burlington Bees’ dugout, a journey from the Community Field mound that felt too long.

The crowd of 2,555 — the largest for a night game this season — was quiet, moments after being loud when Yeltsin Encarnacion came to home plate with two outs and the Bees so close to a win.

Encarnacion’s slicing double to left field emptied the bases for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, a three-run line drive that led to a 5-4 win in Wednesday’s Class A Midwest League game.

Perez’s pitches in his one inning of work were electric at times. At other times, too many times in that wild ninth, they missed their spots.

A three-base error by Bees right fielder Francisco Del Valle opened the inning, walks to Daniel Ozoria and Jacob Pearson extended it, then Encarnacion’s hit finished it.

“Pretty simple what happened,” Bees manager Jack Howell said. “It happens pretty fast.”

It was a stunning loss for the Bees, who fell to 4-9 in the second half after falling short of a first-half playoff spot.

The Bees led 4-2 going into the ninth, having taken the lead on Tim Millard’s three-run home run in the seventh inning.

Trevor Casanova led off with a line drive to deep right field that Del Valle misplayed at the wall for a three-base error. Perez got Ricky De La Torre on a called third strike, then he walked Ozoria. Another strikeout looking, this one by Estamy Urena, had the Bees on the verge of a win.

But Pearson followed with a walk, and Howell headed to the mound.

“I was more talking to the infield, letting them know with the quick runner at second base, just knock the ball down,” Howell said. “Keep the ball in the infield.”

Encarnacion’s hit, though, wasn’t an infield problem. Left fielder Nonie Williams had a long way to run to track down the ball as it reached the fence, and all three runs easily scored.

Perez (0-3) struck out Gabe Snyder to end the inning, the damage complete.

It was a night when all of the runs scored by the Kernels were unearned.

The Bees got solid pitching from starter Cole Duensing and reliever Austin Krzeminski. Duensing threw five innings, allowing three hits while walking three and striking out three. Krzeminski allowed one hit in three innings, striking out five.

“Krzeminski was good,” Howell said. “And Duensing was really good.”

Burlington had five hits in the first five innings, but could only get one run. Harrison Wenson led off the second inning with a double, moved to third on Alvaro Rubalcaba’s deep fly ball to left-center field, then scored on Millard’s sacrifice fly.

The Bees struck in the seventh inning off Kernels’ reliever J.T. Perez. Wenson doubled with one out, then Rubalcaba walked. Millard then crushed a pitch over the left-field fence, and Burlington had the lead.

“We got the big blow to give us the lead,” Howell said.

The Bees seemed in a position to get more runs. Justin Jones followed with a single, and then Morgan McCullough was hit by a pitch. But the inning ended when Jordyn Adams struck out and McCullough was thrown out trying to steal second.

Brian Rapp (3-0) was the winning pitcher. Moises Gomez pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to gain his fifth save of the season.

ON DECK: The four-game series moves to Cedar Rapids for a 5:05 p.m. game on Thursday. Burlington’s Luis Alvarado (3-4, 2.59 ERA) faces Cedar Rapids’ Luis Rijo (1-5, 2.55).

NOTES: Encarnacion is hitting .406 in nine games against the Bees this season. He was 3-for-5 in this game. … Wenson was 2-for-4. He is batting .275 since June 1.

Photo: Tim Millard rounds the bases after his three-run home run in the seventh inning. Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees

KERNELS 3, BEES 1: Pina bounces back with a better start

Robinson Pina didn’t even make it out of the first inning in his last start.

And the first two Cedar Rapids Kernels hitters in Tuesday’s game against the Burlington Bees looked like they were going to start a repeat performance.

Jacob Pearson singled and then Gabe Snyder followed with another single.

But Pina was going to stick around for a while. He struck out two of the next three hitters he faced, surrounding a force play at second base.

While the Bees couldn’t come up with enough hits in the 3-1 loss in the Class A Midwest League game at Community Field, their pitching — especially Pina’s — proved to be the lone positive of the night.

Pina (4-4) struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings, staying around a lot longer than his two-thirds of an inning work at Quad Cities last Thursday.

“That’s a nice rebound from his last outing,” Bees manager Jack Howell said. “That was nice to see. That’s part of their development — to learn how to pitch when you don’t have your good stuff. Things kind of escalated on him the last time. Tonight he pounded the (strike) zone. Throwing strikes.

Pina was knocked around in the 10-2 loss to the River Bandits. He gave up three hits and three walks which led to five earned runs. He threw just 31 pitches that night, only 14 for strikes.

On this night, Pina would last through 73 pitches, and 53 of those were for strikes.

“That’s the difference,” Howell said. “You’ve got to make those pitches when you need them.”

Pina didn’t give up a run until the fifth. Snyder’s single scored Estamy Urena to tie the game, then Snyder scored on an error.

That was more than enough for the Kernels, who held the Bees to just four singles, two by leadoff hitter Jordyn Adams.

“One run on four hits isn’t going to cut it,” Howell said.

The Bees’ lone run came in the second. Catcher Harrison Wenson was hit by a pitch with one out. He then stole second, moved to third on a throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch.

The other two hits for Burlington came at the bottom of the batting order. Alvaro Rubalcaba, batting ninth, had a bunt single in the third inning. Justin Jones, batting eighth, had a sharp single in the fifth.

Austin Schulfer (6-4), who combined to no-hit the Bees in the second game of a doubleheader in May, allowed three of the four hits in this game. He struck out eight.

Schulfer is 3-0 in three starts against the Bees this season, allowing 10 hits in 18 innings while striking out 26.

The Bees fell to 4-8 in the second half.

ON DECK: The two teams have a 6:30 p.m. game Wednesday. Burlington’s Cole Duensing (5-4, 4.48) will face Cedar Rapids’ Tyler Palm (1-4, 4.73).

NOTES: Adams went 2-for-4 after going 0-for-20 in his last five games. He is batting .378 against the Kernels this season. … Cedar Rapids leads the season series, 7-4. … Attendance was 562.

Photo: Robinson Pina delivers a pitch in the first inning of Tuesday’s game. Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees

SERIES PREVIEW: Bees vs. Cedar Rapids Kernels

SERIES FACTS

Game times: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 5:05 p.m. Thursday, 6:35 p.m. Friday.

Where: Community Field for Tuesday-Wednesday, Perfect Game Field in Cedar Rapids for Thursday-Friday

Second-half records: Bees 4-7, Kernels 5-6

Overall records: Bees 43-38, Kernels 44-37

Season series: Kernels lead, 6-4.

TEAM COMPARISONS

Last 10: Bees 4-6, Kernels 5-5

Home vs. road: Bees 25-17 at home, 18-21 on the road. Kernels 23-19 at home, 21-18 on the road.

Run differential: Bees -2, Kernels +29

Extra innings: Bees 7-3, Kernels 4-1

One-run games: Bees 21-12, Kernels 16-10

HEAD TO HEAD

Batting average: Bees .199, Kernels .255

ERA: Bees 4.56, Kernels 3.58

WHAT TO WATCH

The Kernels’ late first-half surge gave them the second Western Division playoff spot via tiebreaker. The two teams finished 39-31, but Cedar Rapids was 6-4 against the Bees.

Both teams have started slowly in the second half. The Kernels have a minus-3 run differential in the half, while the Bees are at minus-6.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bees first baseman Connor Fitzsimons, named the Midwest League’s player of the week on Monday after hitting .429 last week, is hitting .400 against the Kernels with a 1.111 OPS. Outfielder Jordyn Adams has a .364 batting average against Cedar Rapids with a .932 OPS.

Bees starting pitcher Luis Alvarado has a 1.93 ERA in two games against Cedar Rapids, with nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Kyle Tyler is 1-0 against the Kernels.

Cedar Rapids outfielder Jared Akins has a .346 average and a 1.063 OPS against the Bees in seven games. Infielder Yeltsin Encarnacion has a .370 average and .913 OPS against the Bees. Infielder Estamy Urena has a .308 average against Burlington.

Pitcher Austin Schulfer, who will start Tuesday’s game, is 2-0 against the Bees, including a no-hitter in a May doubleheader. Schulfer has struck out 18 Bees in 12 innings.

THE MONDAY HIVE: Bees have differing answers on baseball’s questions

Baseball is a sport that seems to lead to arguments.

Which is why a Twitter post a couple of weeks ago caught my interest.

A tweet from a Twitter user named Diane Firstman (@dianegram) had five questions that are ‘argument starters’ for baseball fans.

Every person who answered seemed to have a different combination.

So, I decided to ask members of the Burlington Bees for their opinions.

Here are their answers:

Batting around (9 batters or 10/more batters)?

Manager Jack Howell: “Nine. I just say we batted around, because everybody got an at-bat.”

Infielder Justin Jones: “I think the guy that leads off has to bat again.”

Pitcher Parker Joe Robinson: “I agree with that.”

Pitcher Kyle Tyler: “I think the leadoff guy has to bat again.”

Striking out the side — does it have to be a 3-batter inning, or can a runner reach base?

Howell: “When he struck out the side, it was 1-2-3. When you strike out the side, it’s boom-boom-boom.”

Robinson: “I think it’s striking out the side when you strike out three batters in an inning.”

Jones: “You can still strike out the side and give up 10 runs.”

Robinson: “It’s not as impressive.”

“Play catch” vs. “Have a catch”

Howell: “You play catch. And a new term that’s been thrown about is ‘catch play.’ ‘He did a really good job in his catch play today.’”

Robinson: “Play catch, for sure.”

Jones: “Play catch.”

Outfielder Francisco Del Valle: “Same.”

Tyler: “Play catch.”

Fair pole or foul pole?

Howell: “Foul pole.”

Robinson: “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say ‘fair pole.’ Even though it makes sense — it’s fair if you hit it. Everyone has referred to it as ‘foul pole.’”

Jones: “Agreed.”

Del Valle: “Agreed. Foul pole.”

Tyler: “Foul pole.”

Plural of RBI?

Howell: “RBIs. ‘He had four RBIs.’ I put it in my report all of the time. I’ll say it tonight on our report, ‘Fitzsimons had four RBIs.’”

Jones: “I put the S on the end.”

Del Valle: “I don’t put the S on the end.”

Robinson: “I put the S on the end.”

Tyler: “RBIs.”

BACK TO THE PROCESS

Howell did the math on what he thought the Bees would need to get into the playoffs for the first half.

He figured if the Bees could get to 40 wins — 10 over .500 — they would get the second first-half playoff spot in the Western Division.

The Bees fell one short of that, finishing in a tie with Cedar Rapids, but losing the tiebreaker because the Kernels led the season series with the Bees, 6-4.

“I was always watching,” Howell said. “We would get to nine over .500, and then we would shoot down to seven. Get to nine, go down again. I said all along, if we would get to 10 over, we would win.”

The Bees went into the final series of the first half at Peoria with a magic number of two — any combination of Burlington wins and Cedar Rapids losses totalling two would clinch the playoff spot.

The Bees won just one game, while Cedar Rapids swept Clinton.

Howell preached “the process” to his team all throughout the first half as the Bees stayed in either one of the top two spots all the way through. The Kernels, though, surged into the second-place tie by winning 14 of their last 18 games, a stretch started by a 4-0 win over the Bees on May 30.

“We didn’t even think about all this,” Howell said. “You heard me talk about process, process, process. Not results, process. But you get down to the last two or three weeks, and you think, ‘OK, this is something we should consider thinking about.’

“I think toward the end, we went away from the process and started trying to win, and I think it got us a little bit. But I will say, with the way Cedar Rapids was coming, I think we had to think that. They were doing extraordinary things, so that meant we were going to have to turn it up a notch.”

Howell thought his team was in good shape after winning two games of a three-game series at Kane County right before the Peoria series.

“In one way, it was frustrating,” Howell said. “But in another way, it lets you know to stay with the process. Stay with the process, and the results will happen.”

FUTURES GAME AGAIN

Jo Adell (2018) will be playing the All-Star Futures Game on July 7 in Cleveland as part of the All-Star Game festivities.

It is the second consecutive appearance in the event for Adell, who was 1-for-4 in last year’s game.

Adell, ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Los Angeles Angels’ organization and the No. 4 prospect overall by MLB.com, is batting .364 with five home runs after missing most of the first half of the season because of ankle and hamstring injuries suffered in spring training. He is batting .311 in his minor-league career, including hitting .326 in 25 games for the Bees last season.

THE MONTH THAT WAS

A look at the Bees’ numbers and facts from June.

Record: 12-14

Batting average: .210

ERA: 3.91

Notes: Catcher Harrison Wenson led the team in doubles (6), RBIs (13) and OPS (.912). … Infielder Justin Jones led the team with three home runs. … Bees starting pitcher Jose Soriano had a 1.93 ERA for the month, while Kyle Tyler had a 1.93 ERA. Tyler was 3-0 for the month, while Hector Yan was 2-0.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Record: 2-4

Batting average: .196

Opponents’ batting average: .284

ERA: 5.20

Opponents’ ERA: 4.40

Notes: Both of the Bees’ wins were in rain-shortened games — 3-2 at Peoria on Sunday and 9-1 against Quad Cities on Tuesday. Tyler was the winning pitcher, and credited with a complete game, in both games. … Connor Fitzsimons batted .429 for the week.

THE WEEK AHEAD

• Cedar Rapids (6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Community Field, 5:05 p.m. Thursday and 6:35 p.m. Friday at Cedar Rapids) — The Bees and Kernels tied for second place in the Western Division in the first half, but the Kernels won the tiebreaker with a 6-4 edge in the season series. The Kernels are 4-6 in the second half, including a 2-4 home record.

• Peoria (6:30 p.m. Saturday and next Monday, 2 p.m. Sunday) — The final visit for the Chiefs, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, to Community Field this season. The Bees are 5-3 against Peoria this season, including a three-game sweep at home in April.

STAT PACK

The Bees are 25-17 at home, 17-21 on the road. … The Bees have seven wins in 10 extra-inning games this season, most in the Midwest League. … They are 21-12 in one-run games, also the most wins in the league. … Yan is second in the league with 83 strikeouts. … Opponents are hitting .203 against Soriano, .220 against Tyler.

SERIES PREVIEW: Burlington Bees vs. Peoria Chiefs

A look at this weekend’s series as the Burlington Bees continue a five-game stretch of commuter trips with a three-game series at Peoria.

SERIES FACTS

Game times: 6:35 p.m. Saturday-Monday.

Where: Dozer Park, Peoria

Second-half records: Bees 2-6, Chiefs 2-6

Overall records: Bees 41-37, Chiefs 32-45

Season series: Bees lead, 4-2

TEAM COMPARISONS

Last 10: Bees 3-7, Chiefs 3-7

Home vs. road: Bees 16-20 on the road, Chiefs 18-23 at home.

Run differential: Bees -5, Chiefs -54

Extra innings: Bees 7-2, Chiefs 1-5

One-run games: Bees 20-11, Chiefs 8-13

HEAD TO HEAD

Batting average: Bees .247, Chiefs .220

ERA: Bees 3.46, Chiefs 4.53

WHAT TO WATCH

These are two teams that really need to get something going here in the second half.

The Bees are on a three-game losing streak, being outscored 24-9 in the final three games of a four-game series with the Quad Cities River Bandits.

The Chiefs have lost five consecutive games. They were swept in a four-game series with Clinton, giving up 10 runs in the first inning of Friday’s 11-3 loss.

Peoria hurt the Bees’ playoff chances in the final weekend of the first half, taking two games in the three-game series. Burlington ended up losing the tiebreaker to Cedar Rapids for the second Western Division playoff spot.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bees catcher Harrison Wenson is hitting .308 in June with a .958 OPS. Three Burlington pitchers expected to throw in this series — Jose Soriano, Kyle Tyler and Hector Yan — are a combined 6-1 in June.

Bees outfielder Spencer Griffin in hitting .429 in five games against the Chiefs, with a 1.293 OPS. Infielder Justin Jones has a 1.080 OPS against the Chiefs. Outfielder Francisco Del Valle is batting .308 against Peoria.

Peoria catcher Alexis Wilson has played just two games against the Bees, but is hitting .571 against them. Infielder Josh Shaw has a .357 average against them in four games.

The Chiefs have just two home runs against the Bees in six games.

RIVER BANDITS 10, BEES 2: One pitch turns into a long night

DAVENPORT — The best part of Jack Howell’s night came before the game.

The Burlington Bees manager took the lineup card out to the pre-game meeting at home plate, while the Quad Cities River Bandits card was delivered by … a robot.

It was Navy Night at Modern Woodmen Park, and the robot was part of the military show.

“I thought that was pretty cool,” Howell said.

The first inning was pretty cool, with the Bees taking a 1-0 lead.

Then Bees starting pitcher Robinson Pina came out, and his first pitch to Ross Adolph was a ball.

And that was only the beginning.

Pina didn’t make it out of the first inning, allowing five runs as Quad Cities roared to a 10-2 win in Thursday’s Class A Midwest League game.

The Bees fell to 2-5 in the second half after a game that got out of hand not long after the first pitch left Pina’s hand.

“We get a run, and you want to go out and get off to a good start,” Howell said. “The first pitch right away is a ball, and then he walks the guy.”

Adolph walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Oscar Campos’ single.

After Cesar Salazar walked to load the bases, David Hensley cleared them with a double to left field, and the River Bandits led 4-0.

Jonathan Lacroix’s RBI single ended Pina’s night.

Pina (4-3) threw 31 pitches, only 14 for strikes.

“He’s been so good for us all season,” Howell said of Pina, who was one of the Bees’ three representatives for the Midwest League All-Star Game. “Everyone has nights like this.”

Austin Krzeminski ended the first inning with a one-pitch out, but he gave up two more runs in the second inning to give Quad Cities a 7-2 lead.

The Bees had just four hits — three in the first two innings, including a run-scoring single and a run-scoring double from Kevin Maitan — but didn’t have a hit after the fourth inning.

The Bees’ pitching highlight of the night came from Dylan King, who joined the team on Wednesday. King, an 18th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in last year’s Major League Baseball draft, didn’t allow a hit in three innings, walking two and striking out four.

Felipe Tejada (3-0) was the winning pitcher.

ON DECK: The two teams conclude their four-game home-and-home series with Friday’s 6:30 p.m. game. Bees starting pitcher Cole Duensing (5-3, 4.32 ERA) will face Quad Cities’ Jonathan Bermudez (1-0, 3.97).

NOTES: The season series between the two teams is tied at 5. No team has a winning series record against Quad Cities (47-25) this season. … Lacroix went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Lacroix is batting .404 in 16 games over two seasons against the Bees. … Hensley went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs. Hensley is batting .292 and driven in six runs against the Bees this season.

Photo: A robot brought out the lineup card during the pre-game meeting.

RIVER BANDITS 7, BEES 5: Effectively wild Rivera gives hope, and then takes it away

The pitches seemed unhittable, high-speed stuff that stayed just enough out of the strike zone to be effective, close enough to not be ignored.

Jose Alberto Rivera gave the Burlington Bees plenty of hope in the final four innings of Wednesday’s Class A Midwest League game at Community Field. But every opportunity would be whisked away by a fastball that was too much to handle.

Rivera was the winning pitcher in Quad Cities’ 7-5 victory over the Burlington Bees, using a high-90s fastball that created plenty of havoc, but also plenty of chances that the Bees’ hitters couldn’t seize.

Every inning from the sixth on, the Bees had runners in scoring position, and got nothing.

“He was nasty,” Bees manager Jack Howell said. “Electric.”

Rivera (3-3), who came into the game with an 8.38 earned run average, struck out two of the first three hitters he faced in a 1-2-3 fifth inning after the River Bandits had tied the game at 5.

Then came a parade of baserunners that teased in the last four innings.

Especially tough was the sixth inning, when the Bees loaded the bases with nobody out. Justin Jones led off with a single, then Harrison Wenson pushed a bunt up the middle that got by Rivera for a single. Morgan McCullough walked to load the bases.

But Connor Fitzsimons followed with a hard grounder to third baseman Michael Wielansky, who threw home for the force out on Jones. Catcher Oscar Campos threw to first to complete the double play. Jordyn Adams’ flyout ended the inning.

That started a chain of missed scoring opportunities.

Francisco Del Valle singled with one out in the seventh, then Nonie Williams doubled. But Rivera struck out Spencer Griffin and got Jones on an infield popup.

In the eighth, Fitzsimons walked with two outs, and moved to second on a wild pitch. But Fitzsimons was out trying to advance to third.

Rivera got the first two outs of the ninth, but walked Del Valle and Williams. Rivera, though, struck out Griffin to end the game.

“He’s definitely a punch-out guy, but you could see where he could get erratic,” Howell said of Rivera. “We just couldn’t catch up, and when he did get erratic, we couldn’t get the big hit.”

The River Bandits got two early runs off Bees starter Hector Yan, who came into the game having not allowed a run in 15 innings and a hit in the last 11.

The hitless streak was broken in the first inning on Campos’ two-out single. Two innings later, the River Bandits scored twice on a home run by Jeremy Pena and an RBI double by Campos.

The Bees got all of their runs in the fourth inning. Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, then Wenson doubled to center field to bring in two runs for a 3-2 lead. McCullough had an RBI single and Fitzsimons followed with a run-scoring double.

All of that came after the Bees were silenced in the first three innings by Quad Cities starter Jose Bravo, who had allowed one hit and struck out five until the fourth.

“We finally got to that guy who was so filthy, and we dropped a five-spot on him,” Howell said.

Yan couldn’t hold the lead. He walked Michael Wielansky to lead off the fifth, then gave up singles to Pena and Ross Adolph to end his night.

“Yan’s been so electric, it’s not like you can really say anything,” Howell said. “If anything, his secondary stuff, he was having a hard time. Most importantly, credit to them, they weren’t chasing it. These guys didn’t chase.”

Tyler Smith (5-2) was the losing pitcher.

ON DECK: The Bees and River Bandits take the series to Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport for the next two games. The two teams were supposed to play there to open the season, but flooding from the Mississippi River forced the games to be moved to Burlington. Burlington’s Robinson Pina (4-2, 3.66 ERA) will face Quad Cities’ Felipe Tejada (2-0, 3.32).

NOTES: Adams had his 10-game on-base streak snapped. He went 0-for-5. … Williams has a four-game hitting streak. He went 2-for-4 to push his average in the streak to .500 in the streak. … McCullough, a 22nd-round pick for the Los Angeles Angels in the MLB draft earlier this month, went 1-for-3 in his first game with the Bees. … Attendance was 601.

BEES 9, RIVER BANDITS 0: Great eight to start the game

Jack Howell’s welcome-back gift upon his return from vacation was an eight-run first inning.

The Burlington Bees manager laughed when asked about how big that start was in Tuesday’s 9-0 rain-shortened win over the Quad Cities River Bandits at Community Field.

“Shouldn’t even have to explain that one,” he said, smiling. “It’s a delight.”

Howell, taking his four-day break while Los Angeles Angels field coordinator Chad Tracy managed the team in a weekend series against Kane County, came back to see 12 Bees come to the plate in the first inning. The first seven batters reached base, knocking Quad Cities starter Matt Ruppenthal (2-2) from the game.

“Obviously getting off to a big lead like that … eight is a little unrealistic, but boy, you’ll take them,” Howell said.

Jordyn Adams led off the inning with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 10 games. Kevin Maitan singled, then Francisco Del Valle doubled to score Adams. Nonie Williams followed with a two-run single.

The next three hitters — Spencer Griffin, Justin Jones and Harrison Wenson — walked, bringing in another run for a 4-0 lead. Quad Cities reliever Layne Henderson struck out Alvaro Rubalcaba, but Fitzsimons answered with his home run to center field.

Howell said there had been times in the first half when the Bees would start an inning strong, but only get a couple of runs.

“Those eight runs were a couple of walks, a couple of hits, a couple of walks, a couple of hits,” Howell said. “And then the big blow.

“This was a neat thing where the inning didn’t get away from us. We tacked on.”

And Howell was pleased that was an additional run in the second, when Jones singled in Williams.

“So, not only do we get eight, but then we add on in the next inning,” Howell said.

All of this was more than enough for Bees pitcher Kyle Tyler (3-0), who allowed four hits and two walks in five innings.

Tyler threw 78 pitches, 47 for strikes.

“We told him to pound the zone, and he did,” Howell said.

Quad Cities had runners on second and third in the second and fifth innings, but couldn’t score.

After Austin Dennis’ flyout to center field to end the fifth, the umpires cleared the field as a thunderstorm approached. The game was called off 40 minutes later.

ON DECK: The two teams play a 6:30 p.m. game on Wednesday. Bees starter Hector Yan (2-2) will face Quad Cities’ Jose Alberto Rivera (2-3).

NOTES: The Bees had several roster moves since Sunday’s game. First baseman/designated hitter D.C. Arendas and pitcher Cristopher Molina were promoted to High-A Inland Empire. Infielder Morgan McCullough, the Angels’ 22nd-round draft pick earlier this month, and pitcher John Cain were assigned to the Bees’ roster. … Williams has hit in six of his last seven games, going 8-for-26 (.308) in that stretch. … Adams is batting .333 in his last 10 games. … Attendance was 531.

Photo: Bees manager Jack Howell (right) congratulates Connor Fitzsimons after his first-inning grand slam. Photo courtesy of Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees