Olivares Dominates, Kernels Strikeout 15, Top River Bandits 2-1

Davenport, IA - Jose Olivares did not allow an earned run on just one hit and struck out a career-high 10, before Matt Gabbert slammed the door with five strikeouts across three scoreless innings as Cedar Rapids topped Quad Cities 2-1 in the series opener Tuesday night.

Quad Cities opened up the series with a run in the bottom of the first. An error and a stolen base put Nolan Sailors on second for Sam Kulasingam, who doubled to bring in the run to make it 1-0 River Bandits.

But that was all the offense Quad Cities could muster against Kernels starter Jose Olivares. The right-hander went six innings and struck out ten, a new career high, en route to a quality start and his sixth win of the year. Olivares finishes the regular season with 106 strikeouts, the most for a Cedar Rapids pitcher since Cade Povich’s 107 in 2022.

In the top of the second, Cedar Rapids had the answer. Danny De Andrade lined a double down the third base line, then scored on Rayne Doncon’s RBI single one batter later to make it 1-1. With two down, Jefferson Valladares singled to put two on, and an error allowed a run to score to make it 2-1 Kernels.

And that was all the scoring on the night. After Olivares, Matt Gabbert came on and finished the job. The right-hander struck out five across three scoreless innings, earning his first high-A save in the win.

The win is the Kernels’ 70th of the season and improves Cedar Rapids to 30-31 in the second half of the year. Garrett Horn gets the start in game two of the final series of the regular season, which is set for Wednesday night at 6:30, opposite Logan Martin.