C.R. Kernels boost Western Division to 5-2 win in Midwest League All-Star Game

MIDLAND, Mich. — Not a bad night. Not a bad night at all.

The six Cedar Rapids Kernels players selected for Tuesday night's Midwest League All-Star Game all got to participate and helped the Western Division to a 5-2 win over the Eastern Division at Dow Diamond, home of the Great Lakes Loons.

The Kernels had four guys selected as position starters, and the best performance of those four guys came from first baseman Lewin Diaz, whose two-run home run gave the West a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. They never trailed thanks to a pair of homers from Wisconsin outfielder Monte Harrison, the former University of Nebraska football recruit who drove in three runs with his two longballs.

He was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

Shortstop Jermaine Palacios of the Cedar Rapids Kernels had a single in his two at-bats Tuesday. Third baseman Travis Blankenhorn was 0-for-2, but one of those outs was a liner to center.

Designater hitter Mitchell Kranson got in four at-bats and had one hit, a double.

On the pitching side, Clark Beeker and Sean Poppen of the Kernels also got to play. Poppen pitched a hitless second inning with a strikeout, while Beeker got the first two outs of the sixth inning, allowing a leadoff double but no runs.

A sellout crowd of 5,009 attended the game. The Midwest League's second half begins Thursday for the Kernels with a four-game series at Quad Cities.

Cedar Rapids and Kane County qualified for the playoffs from the Western Division in the first half. In the Eastern Division, the playoff qualifiers were the West Michigan Whitecaps and Dayton Dragons.

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