This Kernels win was a Locke

CEDAR RAPIDS - Their God is Jamie Moyer.

They get guys out, though you're never quite sure how or why. They can pitch for years and years.

They're the finesse lefty, a unique little genre of baseball player represented on the Cedar Rapids Kernels by Stephen Locke.

“They've been doing it for seemingly a few hundred years,” said Kernels Manager Bill Mosiello, after Locke's eight shutout innings helped the Kernels to a 5-0 victory over Wisconsin on Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium. “Throw strikes, change speeds. Everybody's got them, there's a lot of them. Nobody understands how they get people out, but they get people out.”

This particular finesse lefty has been a lock, pun intended, virtually every time he has taken the hill for the Kernels. A mere 22nd-round draft pick out of the University of Florida, Locke has gone at least six innings in each of his seven starts since coming to town from Los Angeles Angels extended spring training in late May.

The Angels had him originally slated as a reliever this season but changed their minds late, which is why Locke (4-2, 2.58 ERA) spent almost two months in Tempe instead of Cedar Rapids.

“They told me they were keeping me there to build my pitch counts up,” said Locke. “It all ended up working out.”

As it did last night. Locke scattered (another term used a lot when referring to finesse lefties) six hits in eight innings, striking out three.

And he did it all with a “heater” that topped out about 85 or 86 miles per hour. Not that it mattered.

“I've just got to make sure I'm pitching down in the zone,” said Locke, a Tommy John surgery survivor from 2005. “If it's above the knees, I'm getting in trouble. I've got to work it in and out and keep it down. It's a tribute to my defense (tonight). I think I only had two or three strikeouts, but it was a quick game. I was getting ground balls, getting early contact, and the guys were making plays behind me.”

“He has had some really awesome outings,” Mosiello said. “He's been pretty good all the time, but he has had some really good ones for us.”

Locke was taken out after 101 pitches, with Johnny Hellweg surviving a shaky ninth to preserve the shutout. Jean Segura went 3-for-3 with a run and RBI to provide the necessary offensive support.

Cedar Rapids (50-30, 7-5) plays three games at Burlington beginning tonight, then returns home Saturday to begin a series with Peoria.

We had a small rhubarb in the Kernels' half of the second, when Justin Bass was caught in a rundown between second and third base and ran over Wisconsin second baseman Michael Marseco. Runner interference was called on the play, much to the dismay of Mosiello.

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