BURLINGTON, IOWA - Royce Lewis posted a game-high two hits and drove in the Cedar Rapids Kernels' only run Monday, but the Burlington Bees came away with a 2-1 victory in the opener of a four-game series at Community Field. Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 First-Year
BURLINGTON, IOWA - Royce Lewis posted a game-high two hits and drove in the Cedar Rapids Kernels' only run Monday, but the Burlington Bees came away with a 2-1 victory in the opener of a four-game series at Community Field. Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft, has hit safely in all three appearances since his promotion to Cedar Rapids.
Andrew Vinson (8-9) extended his team lead in victories with a shutout start for Burlinton (20-30, 51-68). After a leadoff single by Lewis in the first inning, Vinson retired the next 12 batters in succession. He gave up back-to-back singles to Caleb Hamilton and Shane Carrier within the fifth before stranding both runners in scoring position to end his scoreless outing.
The Bees took a 2-0 lead during the bottom of the third inning. John Schuknecht led off with a double and later moved to third base on a passed ball. Leonardo Rivas drove in Schuknecht on a two-out RBI single. Jonah Todd drew a walk to pushed Rivas to second, and Richie Fecteau delivered an RBI single to plate Rivas.
In the eighth, the Kernels (23-27, 62-58) cut their deficit in half to 2-1. Christian Cavaness drew a one-out walk against Zac Ryan and reached third base after a Jordan Gore double. Lewis grounded out to bring in Cavaness. In the bottom half of the inning, Cavaness kept Cedar Rapids within a run by making a running catch in foul territory to leave the bases loaded for Burlington.
Cedar Rapids went down in order in the top of the ninth and lost Monday's contest, 2-1. Ryan earned his first Midwest League save for finishing the game. Adrian Almeida also earned his second hold with two scoreless innings of relief before he was relieved by Ryan.
Tyler Beardsley (3-7) took the loss for the Kernels and suffered his sixth consecutive losing decision. He allowed two runs over five innings pitched. Logan Lombana added three shutout innings and tallied five strikeouts to share game-high honors with Beardsley.
Game two of this four-game series will be played at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Kernels left-hander Bryan Sammons (1-0, 3.38) will square off against Bees right-hander Luis Madero (0-1, 4.50). Catch the coverage with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.
Cedar Rapids' next homestand starts Friday, August 18 and continues through Monday, August 21. Fans can purchase 2017 Kernels regular season and playoff tickets by visiting www.kernels.com, going to the Kernels Ticket Office, or calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels are the Midwest League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
