Kernels lose to Lansing but can close out playoff berth

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Cedar Rapids Kernels can wrap up a Midwest League playoff berth this next homestand, so overlook Monday afternoon's performance.

It was a humbling 8-2 loss to Lansing at Veterans Memorial Stadium. A nice weekday crowd of 2,980 fans didn't have a whole lot to cheer for, as the Lugnuts scored five times the first three innings to run away.

Though the Kernels haven't set the league on fire the past two weeks, they've played more than well enough overall to be able to clinch a postseason spot here in the first half. They are 38-26 and safely (at the moment) ahead of Burlington for second place in the Western Division.

They probably won't catch Quad Cities for the division title but can wrap things up quickly since Burlington comes to town for three games beginning Tuesday night. The top two teams in each division in each half qualify for the playoffs.

Cedar Rapids was four games behind QC with six to go but four and a half up on Burlington, pending Monday night's results.

Kane County mathematically has a shot at catching the Kernels, too, but it would have to win out and Cedar Rapids lose out.

'It would mean a lot from where we started,” Kernels Manager Jake Mauer said. 'The pitching that we've had come through here has put up in position. Even with this loss, we're in a pretty good spot still. We haven't played great the last two weeks, but we're in a pretty good spot with six to go.”

Cedar Rapids is 4-8 in its last 12 games. It has made its money by going 34-19 within the division.

'We've just got to go out and play our game,” Mauer said. 'The starting pitchers have got to set the tone. If the starting pitcher doesn't do that, we're in trouble.”

The starting pitcher didn't do that Monday. Jared Wilson (5-2) had an uncostumary off outing, giving up seven hits, three walks and five runs in four innings.

He has been very good the first half and even got a start here recently for high-Class A Fort Myers on an emergency basis.

'Up in the zone today,” Mauer said. 'Not really able to make pitches when he needed to.”

Cedar Rapids got a solo home run from Alex Real leading off the fifth. He is hitting .359 in 11 games since joining the club after serving a 50-game suspension to begin the season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

The Kernels finished with just six hits, so this loss was truly a team loss. But, again, it's hopefully a blip in the big picture.

'It'd be nice to be able to do that, but we've got to go game by game,” Mauer said of clinching a playoff spot. 'Nothing is going to us.”

Mauer said that pitcher Ethan Mildren has been sent to the team from Fort Myers, where he has been on the disabled list since late May. The right-hander had 13 starts last season for the Kernels.

Pitcher Dereck Rodriguez has been sent to Rookie-level Elizabethton for the beginning of its season. Rodriguez allowed seven earned runs in seven innings in his two starts for the Kernels.

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