Mildren tosses Fourth of July gem for Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS - The season's first sellout plus a visit from the reeling Beloit Snappers proved to be an ideal Fourth of July combination for the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Starting pitcher Ethan Mildren was superb for the second straight outing by limiting Beloit to three hits in seven scoreless innings as Cedar Rapids dealt the Snappers their 10th consecutive loss, 3-0, before an overflow crowd of 5,564 Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

'I was getting ahead with my fastball and working both sides of the plate,” Mildren said. 'That was the big thing. Some guys were on the plate, so getting in on them, trying to get ground balls and swing and misses when I needed to.”

Mildren (3-5) walked two and struck out four - a similar performance to his June 29 start against Clinton in which he left after seven innings with a 2-0 lead, only to be undone by a seven-run ninth inning tagged to the bullpen.

'That's going to happen,” Mildren said. 'It's a goofy game. You've just got to go with it and just put it behind you.”

This time, there was no such collapse. Relievers Dallas Gallant and Todd Van Steensel each tossed a scoreless inning to preserve the shutout, with Van Steensel notching his eighth save.

'It was an excellent job, lined it up how we wanted it,” Cedar Rapids Manager Jake Mauer said. 'Gallant's been really good. Van Steensel's been really good. Obviously being able to make pitches and not panic - that was really huge.”

Cedar Rapids (36-48, 5-9 second half) got started quick in its half of the first inning when leadoff hitter Zack Granite tripled and scored on a two-out home run by Bryan Haar against Beloit all-star Kyle Finnegan (6-6).

'A guy on third, trying to put the ball back up the middle,” said Haar, who leads the team with 12 home runs and is tied with 47 RBIs. 'He hung that curveball and (I'm) kind of seeing it well right now and just jumped all over it.”

Granite appeared to come up a bit lame on his turn into second, and left the game in the third inning when his hip didn't quite loosen up, though Mauer contends he could have played if necessary.

Beloit (32-52, 2-12 second half) designated hitter Matt Chapman - a first-round pick of the parent Oakland A's in last month's amateur draft - struck out twice against Mildren.

Cedar Rapids catcher Michael Quesada played for the first time since June 15 (right wrist contusion) and tallied a pair of assists.

The teams play again tonight at 6:35.

l Comments: douglas.miles@sourcemedia.net