Mildren returns from “hamstring injury,” pitches Kernels to win

CEDAR RAPIDS – His manager didn't know what landed him on the disabled list, as hard as that was to believe.

'Left hamstring,” Ethan Mildren said with a smile, grabbing the back half of his leg.

That was the official terminology the parent Minnesota Twins and their advanced-Class A affiliate in Fort Myers, Fla., put out. But if you really believe that, there's some land we'd love to sell you, or perhaps a rock that talks.

Whether anyone will ever say it on the record, this was one of those 'phantom” DL stints. Mildren had been having a rough time of it, so he was shelved in order to regroup.

Then sent to the Cedar Rapids Kernels, for whom he was great Wednesday night.

'It felt good to get back and pitch in some real competition, some real games,” he said, after the Kernels' 2-0 win over Burlington before 2,811 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'It's good to be back. As long as I'm getting to pitch somewhere, that's all that really matters.”

The right-hander started 13 games last season for the Kernels before getting a promotion to Fort Myers in July. He began this season in the Miracle's rotation, got moved to the bullpen, got another start, then shifted back to relief.

In his last two appearances in late May, he gave up 13 hits and eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. Then his hamstring started to hurt.

'I got some extra work in, was ready to go,” the former University of Pittsburgh hurler said. 'They sent me up here, and, at that point, I just wanted to be pitching somewhere. It's good to be back in action and everything.”

Mildren gave up a couple of measly singles to Burlington and struck out eight. He got the first two outs in the sixth inning but walked the next two hitters and was removed in favor of Randy LeBlanc.

LeBlanc and Cam Booser finished up the win. Cedar Rapids improved to 40-26, Mildren 1-0.

'He took advantage of their aggressiveness. No doubt about it,” Mauer said. 'He got strike one, then he didn't have to throw many strikes after that. They chased a lot … He was good. Eight punch outs in five innings, gave us what we needed.”

The Kernels got both of their runs in the first inning. Zack Larson and Alex Real had back-to-back, two-out infield hits, with Edgar Corcino bringing them home on a clutch double to the fence in right field.

Hits with runners in scoring position have been difficult to come by for the Kernels, who conclude their three-game series with Burlington at 6:35 Thursday night.

'We haven't swung the bats good for about three or four weeks,” Mauer said. 'We have a difficult time with runners in scoring position, and that just kind of continued tonight.”

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