Loons Score Six Times in the Third, Never Look Back in 10-3 Win Over Cedar Rapids

Midland, MI - After scoring just twice in the first game of the series, Great Lakes scored six times in the third and 10 times on the night to outslug Cedar Rapids 10-3 in game two of the series.

After two and a half scoreless innings to begin the game, former Kernel Noah Miller ripped a single to start the Great Lakes half of the third. Behind him, an error put a runner in scoring position, and Chris Newell put the Loons on top 1-0 with an RBI single. After a groundout scored a second run, and a walk put another runner on, Newell scored on a double steal to make it 3-0. Later in the frame, Luis Rodriguez made it 4-0 with an RBI single before Nick Biddison capped off the six-run inning with a two-run home run to make it 6-0 Loons. =

In the fifth, the Kernels got a run back. Agustin Ruiz singled to begin the frame, and after he stole second, he scored on a Ricardo Olivar RBI base hit to make it 5-1.

But that was the closest the Kernels would get. A Thayron Liranzo two-run home run extended the Loons lead to 8-1 in the sixth inning, and a Miller solo blast in the seventh upped the lead to 9-1. In the eighth, a couple of walks and a Sam Mongelli sacrifice fly put Great Lakes into double-digits and extended the lead to 10-1.

In the top of the ninth, Keoni Cavaco worked a two-out walk to extend the inning to Jay Harry who got the Kernels back on the board with a frozen rope of a two-run home run. But it was far too little too late in the Cedar Rapids 10-3 loss.

Juan Mendez was a bright spot out of the Kernels' bullpen. In his second outing of June, Mendez tossed 2.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts compared to just one walk.

The loss evens the series between the Kernels and Loons at 1-1 and drops Cedar Rapids to 31-21 on the year. Game three of the six-game series is set for tomorrow night at 6:05, with Darren Bowen on the mound opposite Jerming Rosario.