Season opener a big success for Cedar Rapids Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS — A lot of the old and some of the new combined to be a smashing success on opening night.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels ignored cold temperatures and the occasional raindrop and pasted Quad Cities, 12-4, in their Midwest League lid lifter Thursday night before 1,401 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

With 15 of 24 players on the roster already having playing experience here, the Kernels are expected to have success in the first half. That sure played out here, as they lashed 15 hits and limited their opponent to just five.

Quad Cities had five errors, which also aided the Cedar Rapids cause.

'We battled, ran the bases well, aggressively, which is what we did in spring training,' said Manager Jake Mauer. 'That's encouraging. It was a close ballgame until that sixth inning, where we kind of blew it open. They helped us. We got a lot of firsts out of the way, to put a positive spin on it. It wasn't a very pretty game, all the way around.'

Eight of the nine guys in the Kernels lineup had at least one hit, led by Chris Paul's three. He's one of those aforementioned MWL veterans.

The only Kernel not to record a hit was second baseman Rafael Valera, another second-year guy, and he walked twice and scored a run. Catcher A.J. Murray, one of the few newbies, made an immediate impression with a two-run home run off the left-field porch's back wall.

'We've got some depth in our lineup,' Mauer said. 'A.J. Murray probably would have hit third or fourth for us last year. We've got some guys who can swing it. I thought our at-bats were a little anxious early ... then I though we calmed down a little better, our at-bats got better as the game went on. That was encouraging.'

Randy LeBlanc, who started the deciding Game 5 of last season's Midwest League Championship Series, was just fine in his 2016 debut, picking up the win with five innings of three-hit, one-run ball. Michael Theofanopoulos, Zack Tillery and Kuo Hua Lo followed him, with Lo struggling to throw strikes in the ninth inning despite a 10-run lead.

A foul popout to catcher with the bases loaded finally ended this three-hour, 36-minute marathon.

'We walked 10 guys, and I don't think we did that in a week last year,' Mauer said. 'Our pitchers have got to force the action.'

As part of a parent Houston Astros mandate, Quad Cities shifted virtually every Kernels hitter, even though the teams didn't play against one another in spring training. The Kernels foiled that shift on four occasions, getting base hits the other way on balls that were routine grounders against a normal defense.

The teams play again Friday night at 6:35 at Memorial Stadium, then play two games at Davenport. The Kernels return home Thursday, April 14, against Clinton.

The parent Minnesota Twins placed four players on the Kernels' disabled list Thursday, including Michael Cederoth, who was on the opening-day roster. He has a strained oblique.

The other DLers were paper moves. Lewis Thorpe, Fernando Romero and Cam Booser also are injured and had to be officially placed on someone's roster. All three have spent time with the Kernels the past two seasons, with Thorpe and Romero recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery and Booser from shoulder surgery.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com