After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and seeing that lead disappear with a six run seventh inning, the Los Angeles Angels rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take game five from the New York Yankees, 7-6, and force game six on Saturday.Former Kernel Kevin Jepsen (1-0) picked up the win, allowing one hit over 1/3 inning pitched and Jeff Mathis went 3-4 with a double and two singles. Erick Aybar went 1-3 with a stolen base and made the final out of the game, catching Nick Swisher's pop-up with the bases loaded.
Angels' starter John Lackey cruised through the first six innings, striking out seven, but allowed three of the six runs in the seventh inning and didn't figure in the final decision.
The best-of-seven series now moves to Yankee Stadium in New York on Saturday, October 23 with the Yankees leading 3-2. The winner advances to the 2009 World Series to play the Philadelphia Phillies, starting Wednesday, October 28. The American League team will have home field advantage in the World Series as a result of winning the MLB All-Star Game, 4-3, played in St. Louis this past July.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels open their ninth season in Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Thursday, April 8th at 6:35 pm against the Beloit Snappers. Season tickets are on-sale now by calling Andrea Murphy at (319) 896-7603 with individual game tickets scheduled to go on sale in mid-March. Visit www.kernels.com for more information.
• Discuss this story on the Midwest League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
