Stashak, Kernels Cruise Early in 7-3 Win

BURLINGTON, IOWA - Right-hander Cody Stashak won his first Midwest League start Monday at Community Field in a 7-3 Cedar Rapids Kernels victory over the Burlington Bees. The Kernels' win comes in the opener of a three-game series at the Bees and a seven-game road swing.

Stashak shut down the Bees (5-6) over his first five innings of work. He faced the minimum over those five frames, only allowing a second-inning single to Juan Moreno, who was thrown out by Max Murphy when he tried to get to second base. After the encounter with Moreno, Stashak retired the next nine consecutive batters, including three in a row on strikes.

The Kernels (8-4) got off to a quick start against Bees right-hander Joe Gatto in the first and second innings. In the top of the first, Luis Arraez singled and advanced to third base during Rafael Valera's double. LaMonte Wade followed up with a sacrifice fly to bring in Arraez. During the second inning, Zander Wiel walked and moved to third base on a Sean Miller double. Jermaine Palacios lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Wiel.

Cedar Rapids exploded in the third inning, scoring four runs to take a 6-0 lead. Three straight singles opened the inning, including a single for Wade to extend his league-best hit streak to 12 straight games. A.J. Murray forced in one run with a walk before Wiel produced a two-run single. Later in the frame, Palacios drove in Murray to cap the scoring.

Another run scored against Gatto in the fourth as the Kernels stretched their edge to 7-0. Wade reached on another single and eventually scored on an RBI single by Murray. Gatto was charged with a career-high seven runs allowed in just four innings pitched for the Bees. He was also tagged with the loss and fell to 0-2.

Burlington finally scratched the scoreboard during the bottom of the sixth. Angelo Amendolare led off with a double before getting to third base due to a wild pitch. Josh Delph responded with an RBI single to cut the difference to 7-1. It was the only run allowed by Stashak in a career-high-tying six innings with five strikeouts. He claimed the win, improving to 1-0 this year.

The Bees also started to rally in the bottom of ninth but only trimmed the deficit to 7-3 before taking the loss. Ranyelmy Alberto produced a sacrifice fly to score Jordan Serena. A two-out error later allowed Hutton Moyer to come home before Nick Anderson closed the game with a called strikeout.

Wade highlighted the Kernels offense Monday with a 2-for-4 performance featuring two runs scored and one run batted in with a sacrifice fly. Valera led all players with three base hits including two doubles.

Up next, Cedar Rapids meets Burlington at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in game two of this three-game series. Kernels right-hander Randy LeBlanc (1-1, 2.45 ERA) will pitch against Bees right-hander Jaime Barria (1-1, 4.50 ERA). Listen to all of the exciting Midwest League action with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.

The next Kernels homestand takes place from Tuesday, April 26 through Sunday, May 1. Tickets for all Kernels home games and the 2016 Midwest League All-Star Game are available at www.kernels.com, the Kernels Ticket Office and by calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The ticket office is closed on Sundays except on Kernels Sunday home dates when it will open at 11:00 a.m.