Lewis fuels Kernels' rout with three hits

The youngest player on the Class A Kernels' roster helped lead the way for them Wednesday.
This year's No. 1 overall Draft pick Royce Lewis, Minnesota's top prospect, collected three hits and scored three times as Cedar Rapids routed Burlington, 11-1, at Perfect Game Field. Minnesota's 11th-ranked prospect Travis Blankenhorn teamed up with Lewis by homering and plating a career-high five runs. 

The Kernels scored seven runs in the first inning, two in the fourth and two in the eighth. Lewis started each rally with a hit. The 18-year-old shortstop beat out an infield single in the first and walked later in the frame as Cedar Rapids sent 12 men to the plate. He led off the fourth with a single to left field, then lined his first Midwest League triple to center to begin the eighth after flying out to center in the fifth.
Lewis put together his third game with three or more hits in 15 contests since joining the Kernels on Aug. 12. He had scored three or more runs four times in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League this season, but did so for the first time in the Midwest League on Wednesday.
Gameday box score
Despite a brief 4-for-23 (.174) slump over his last six games and being nearly two years younger than the next-youngest player on his team, MLB.com's No. 31 overall prospect has produced a .339/.391/.452 slash line with Cedar Rapids. He has scored 15 times in 15 games with the team and 53 times in 51 games as a pro while clubbing four homers, driving in 27 runs and swiping 18 bases in 21 tries.
Lewis was the chief beneficiary of Blankenhorn's career night Wednesday. The 2015 third-round pick drove in the Kernels' leadoff man all three times with a single to right in the first, a two-run homer to left in the fourth and an RBI groundout to second in the eighth. The 21-year-old outfielder also plated Twins No. 21 prospect Ben Rortvedt with a groundout in the first.

Blankenhorn -- who took over the team lead with his 13th long ball of the year -- surpassed the previous career high of four RBIs he accomplished four times over the past three seasons.
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Rortvedt finished with three hits and an RBI for Cedar Rapids while Trey Cabbage drove in three runs with a double and a single.
Minnesota's 18th-ranked prospect Tyler Watson (1-3) yielded one run on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts over five innings to nab his first Midwest League win.
The Kernels roughed up Bees starter Andrew Vinson (9-10) for seven runs on seven hits and a walk before he could escape the first. The right-hander recorded just one out.