Cedar Rapids Kernels see win streak snapped

CEDAR RAPIDS — The dietary habits of their minor-league players have become such an important thing for major-league organizations. Peak performance comes with healthy eating.

The days of postgame cheeseburgers and hot dogs are long gone, with guys getting a catered meal in the Cedar Rapids Kernels clubhouse after each game. The parent Minnesota Twins employ a roving dietician, who happens to be in town right now, who speaks to players about what they eat.

Thus, perhaps a delicious but not quite so healthy buffet dinner at the Ox Yoke Inn in Amana would have been ixnayed anyway.

“No, we would have found a way to make that happen,” insisted Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Brian Dinkelman, after his team’s 5-2 loss Friday night to Lansing at Veterans Memorial Stadium. “Because I know the coaching staff really wanted to go. We would have gotten out there.”

Longstanding club policy rewards any Kernels team that wins 10 games in a row with an Ox Yoke trip, with the tab being picked up by the club’s board of directors, the local men and women who own the team. Cedar Rapids had rolled to eight consecutive victories until dropping this one.

Lansing scored three runs in an ugly top of the eighth eighth inning for the victory. The Kernels had two errors, there was a wild pitch, a bang-bang play at first base on a sacrifice bunt that went against them, and a line drive off the base umpire that went for a dead-ball single.

“It kind of snowballed on us there,” Dinkelman said. “They ended up taking the lead, and we couldn’t get anything together late (offensively).”

Oh well, there’s a chance to start another win streak Saturday night when these teams meet at 6:35. Cedar Rapids has been playing terrific baseball, taking 11 of 14 games and 13 of 17 even after this loss.

The Kernels are 25-21 overall. Jair Camargo homered for the High-A Central League’s No. 1 team in that category.

The club announced pregame that catcher Allante Hall has joined the team from extended spring training to replace Chris Williams, who was promoted a couple of days ago to Double-A Wichita.

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