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MLB

Arraez Powers Kernels to 7-3 Victory

First career home run sparks strong performance in opener with Clinton
By Chris Kleinhans-Schulz
April 14, 2016

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Second baseman Luis Arraez connected on his first professional home run early in a three-hit effort as the Cedar Rapids Kernels defeated the Clinton LumberKings, 7-3, Thursday at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels improve to 6-2 this year and drop the LumberKings to 4-3 by winning the opener of a four-game series.

Clinton scored the first run to take a short-lived 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning. On a 3-2 pitch, Braden Bishop was on the run from first base when Dalton Kelly bounced a double to left field that scored Bishop for the early lead.

Arraez kicked off a three-run Kernels rally in the bottom of the first with a leadoff home run. Arraez ended a long plate appearance by lifting his first career homer into the Plumbers & Pipefitters Pavilion in left field. A.J. Murray added a sacrifice fly, and J.J. Fernandez produced an RBI groundout later in the inning to give Cedar Rapids a 3-1 edge.

The LumberKings trimmed their deficit in the third inning to 3-2. Luis Liberato reached on an error and quickly advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Bishop drove in Liberato by slapping a single into left field that cut the difference in half.

Cedar Rapids cushioned its lead with three runs in the fifth inning. Rafael Valera posted his team-high third triple of the season to bring in Sean Miller and Arraez early in the frame. LaMonte Wade followed with a double that would score Valera. Wade batted 2-of-4 Thursday to stretch his Midwest League-high hit streak to eight games.

The third and final hit for Arraez lifted the Kernels to a 7-2 lead. With two outs and two aboard in the sixth, Arraez singled to score Sean Miller. On the same play, Christian Cavaness was thrown out at home plate on a relay from Bishop in center field to catcher Arturo Nieto.

Clinton added a run in the top of the eighth before leaving the bases loaded. Logan Taylor hit a ground ball with the bases full that led to an error and allowed Bishop to score, but Cedar Rapids held on for a 7-3 win after stopping the scoring.

Kernels starting pitcher Andro Cutura (2-0) picked up the victory with a game-high six strikeouts in six innings, allowing just two runs - one earned. LumberKings starter Zack Littell (0-1) took the loss after yielding six earned runs in five innings.

Game two of this four-game series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Friday with Kernels right-hander Sam Gibbons (1-0, 1.80) facing LumberKings right-hander Kyle Wilcox (0-0, 3.60). Listen to all of the exciting Midwest League action with Morgan Hawk and Chris Kleinhans-Schulz on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.

The first 500 fans through the gates Friday will receive a free 2016 Kernels Team Photo and a free koozie, courtesy of Bank Iowa. Join the 98.1 KHAK Kernels Friday Mug Club by purchasing a 16 oz. souvenir mug for $6, and fans with their souvenir mugs can buy refills of regular draft beer or soda for their mug for just $3 at every Friday home game.

Tickets for all Kernels home games are available at www.kernels.com, in person at the Kernels Ticket Office, or by calling (319) 896-7560 during Ticket Office hours. The Kernels Ticket Office is open from 10 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday and from 10 AM to 2 PM on Saturday. The ticket office is closed on Sunday, but opens at 11 AM on Kernels Sunday home dates.