Clark Beeker gives Kernels more good innings, a 5-2 win over Peoria

CEDAR RAPIDS — Chew innings. That's just kind of what Clark Beeker does.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher led the Atlantic 10 Conference in innings last season as a senior at Davidson College, and that's carried over into pro baseball. He spun six neat frames Friday night in a 5-2 win over Peoria at Veterans Memorial Stadium to take over the Midwest League lead in that category.

'That's something I kind of have always taken pride in,' Beeker said. 'Because I know that if I'm getting deep into the game, it's because I'm pitching well and giving our team a chance to win. I don't have a 95-mile-perhour fastball or a hammer breaking ball. My game is kind of living in the strike zone, changing speeds and kind of forcing weak contact. I want to get contact in the first two or three pitches. By doing so, I'm able to get deep into the game. If you're going to full counts all the time, like I did tonight a lot, it's going to be tough go six or seven innings.'

Beeker has had one very nice season for himself to this point. Friday's win moved his record to 8-2, and his earned run average of 2.71 is top 10 in the MWL.

The innings count is 93, by the way. He threw a combined 153 between college and pro ball last season.

The parent Minnesota Twins policy for its minor league pitchers is to let them throw approximately 20 to 25 percent more than they did the season before, so Beeker is in no danger to get shut down. That's good, considering the Kernels (47-39, 8-8) already have qualified for the playoffs.

'The way we kind of keep that in check is with our six-man rotation,' said Kernels pitching coach J.P. Martinez. 'Others teams piggyback, some go five-man (rotation) and skip a start, some teams go five-man but keep them to five innings each time. But we think a six-man rotation is the way to go.'

Beeker doesn't wow you with his stuff, but he's an older guy at 24 and knows how to pitch. His fastball is generally in the 88 to 89-mile-per-hour range and he throws two different kinds of breaking balls, all to both sides of the plate.

'I think he was kind of a darkhorse coming out of spring training,' Martinez said. 'Nobody really expected (too much), coming from a small school, not being a highly touted prospect or anything like that. But after seeing him a bit in spring training, I expected him to have success here because I thought he knew how to pitch. He has shown us that.'

Beeker allowed three hits, one of which was a triple to lead off the game. He walked one and struck out three.

'Honestly, I don't worry about the results too much,' he said, when asked if the amount of success he's had has surprised him at all. 'It's just more about going out and trying to pitch well every day. Make it to the sixth or seventh inning, give our team a chance to win.'

Cedar Rapids scored four unearned runs in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie. Everyone in the batting order reached base via hit or walk, with eight of the nine guys recording at least one hit.

The teams play again Saturday night at 6:35.

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