It’s a season-opening series sweep for Cedar Rapids Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS — Not bad. Not bad at all.

Really, really good, actually

The Cedar Rapids Kernels finished off a season-opening sweep of Beloit, 2-0, Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium. They’re on pace to be the first team in Midwest League history to be undefeated.

Going a cool 132-0 sounds plausible, right? Right?

“Good start to the season,” said Kernels Manager Brian Dinkelkman. “We swung the bats pretty well there the first two games. The pitching has been consistent also. Today we got a good job out of all five of our pitchers. To come out with all three wins the first series is a good start.”

As the skipper mentioned, offense carried the Kernels in a pair of comfortable Game 1 and 2 victories. Cedar Rapids scored 21 runs, thanks in very large part to the phenomenal individual performance of third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

More on him in a second.

But this win was pitching produced. Starter Sawyer Gipson-Long and relievers Bobby Milacki, Melvi Acosta, Denny Bentley and Osiris German combined on a two-hitter.

“The first night was cold, so it was nice that the bats kind of warmed us up,” said Kernels second baseman Anthony Prato. “But we did it all types of ways. We hit the first two days, today we went out and shoved. It’s good to see that.”

Milacki got the win with two hitless innings in his first appearance since undergoing offseason elbow surgery. The right-hander didn’t pitch in spring training until very late and was surprised to get the assignment to a team to start the season.

Milacki’s father, Bob, pitched in the major leagues and coached in the minors for many years.

“It was the first time going out there post-surgery, so it was exciting,” he said. “I was actually surprised by how calm I was, because usually I get pretty amped up ... I was actually pretty calm and collected out there, so being able to slow the game down made it easier to get outs.”

The Kernels scored in the first inning when Prato stole home. With the bases loaded, Wander Javier fanned for the second out, with Beloit’s catcher attempting a back pick at first base.

Prato broke for home on the play, surprised the Sky Carp and scored without a return throw to the plate. In the eighth, he led off with a walk and scored on Encarnacion-Strand’s RBI double into the left-field corner.

Prato went 5-for-10 in the series, with three RBIs, four walks and four stolen bases. His 2021 season was limited as he recovered from a broken hamate bone.

“I worked really hard this offseason to put myself into a good position, definitely after last season with my injury,” he said. “So it’s nice to get off to a good start.”

Prato would have been THE story on any other team in these three games, but what Encarnacion-Strand did was otherworldly.

He went 4-for-5 with two home runs and nine RBIs in Friday night’s opener and was 5-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs in Saturday’s game. Proving mortal, he was just 1-for-4 Sunday.

“To start the season with two games like that, I’ve never seen anything like that in my career in professional baseball,” Dinkelman said. “To get off to a hot start like that, see the ball well, square the balls up was good to see out of him. We know he’s a good hitter, so we hope to see that continue as the season goes on.”

Cedar Rapids has Monday off, then plays six games at Quad Cities.

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