There are few sure things in life except death and taxes, but you can add Felix Jorge to the list as well.

He pitches deep into every game he throws.

During the regular season, Jorge made 22 starts for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and lasted at least six innings 20 times and at least five innings in the other two outings.

That reliability earned him the start for Cedar Rapids in Game 1 of its playoff series with the Quad Cities River Bandits Wednesday night and Jorge once again went deep for the Kernels.

Jorge threw 7 1/3 innings and allowed just two runs on nine hits in a 5-2 victory before 1,552 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Jorge was in command all night, able to work out of a few minor threats in the early innings. He struck out seven batters and walked one.

“I was comfortable with the slider,” the 21-year old right-hander said. “Everything was working, I was in control.”

Kernels Manager Jake Mauer agreed.

“It was huge,” Mauer said. “He was aggressive. He used his slider well. He pitched in and out. It was exactly what we needed.

"Gave us that huge lift. They’ve got a good offensive club and he really kept them off balance all night.”

Mauer noted the large ovation the local fans gave Jorge as he left the game with one out in the eighth inning.

“There’s good baseball people here. There has been for three years,” he commented. “They appreciate it and knew the effort that he gave and how he competed. How big, really, that was for us.”

The Kernels and River Bandits will meet in Game 2 of the best-of-3 series Thursday at 7 p.m. in Davenport.

Nick Gordon led the offensive attack for the Kernels with three hits. He also drove in his team’s third run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Alex Real added two hits and drove in Cedar Rapids’ first two runs with a single in the fourth.

“I came up in situations that I knew that I was on top of the pitcher a little bit, getting in hitter's counts to make things happen,” Gordon said over his post-game steak dinner. "I just felt like I could take advantage of that.”

Jorge and Gordon are making back-to-back postseason appearances, having been a part of the Elizabethton Twins’ playoff team a season ago in the Appalachian League.

Gordon’s postseason a year ago, however, lasted less than two games. “Last year I kind of missed out,” he said. “I broke my finger in the second game.”

Without Gordon’s services, Elizabethton dropped Games 2 and 3 of its first series and was eliminated.

The Kernels earned their first three runs of the game Wednesday, but added their insurance runs thanks largely to River Bandit miscues.

With Cedar Rapids nursing a 3-2 lead, Chris Paul singled in the sixth and scored thanks to a pair of wild pitches from Quad Cities reliever Andrew Thome.

An inning later, Gordon doubled to left field and scored the final Cedar Rapids run on a fly ball when the throw from the outfield made its way into the Quad Cities dugout.

Luke Bard and Nick Anderson kept Quad Cities off the board with 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief work.

QUAD CITIES (2): Boyd, cf, 4 0 1 0, Ferguson, lf, 3 0 1 0, Tanielu, 3b, 4 0 2 0, Muniz, dh, 3 1 1 0, Laureano, rf, 4 1 1 0, Stubbs, c, 3 0 1 0, Bottger, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Trompiz, ss, 4 0 2 1, Reynoso, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Franco, ph, 1 0 0 0. Totals 32 2 10 2.

KERNELS (5): Valera, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Gordon, ss, 3 1 3 1, Corcino, rf, 4 0 1 0, White, 3b, 4 1 1 0, Real, dh, 4 0 2 2, Wade, cf, 2 0 0 0, Murphy, lf, 4 0 0 0, Paul, 1b, 4 1 1 0, Navarreto, c, 3 1 1 0. Totals 31 5 10 3.

Quad Cities   000 200 000 - 2 10 2
Kernels          002 101 10x - 5 10 0

James, Thome (5), Dorris (8) and Stubbs. Jorge, Bard (8), Anderson (9) and Navarreto. W - Jorge (1-0). L - James (0-1). S - Anderson (1). 2B - Boyd (1), Corcino (1), Valera (1), Gordon (1). 3B - Tanielu (1). E - Ferguson (1), Laureano (1). T - 2:26. A - 1,552.