Del Rosario delivers to wrap up road trip

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Joelvis Del Rosario fired six brilliant scoreless innings, striking out nine, and the Lansing Lugnuts (14-22, 45-56) halted a sweep attempt and closed out a 12-game road trip with a 2-1 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels (23-13, 63-39) on Sunday afternoon at Rise 2 Greatness Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The game was delayed 12 minutes at the start by rain, which came down an hour before the game and then reappeared at varying intensities throughout the game.

But it did not bother the 22-year-old Del Rosario, Lansing’s Opening Day starter, who set a career high with nine strikeouts while limiting the Kernels’ league-leading offense to a Noah Miller single in the first inning and a Misael Urbina single in the second. He issued one walk, to Jorel Ortega with two outs in the sixth, and followed that with a fielder’s choice from Kala’I Rosario, the league leader in home runs in OPS, on his 84th and final pitch.

Danny Bautista, Jr. had broken a scoreless tie with a two-out bloop RBI single in the top of the sixth inning off Cedar Rapids starter Cory Lewis, driving in Junior Pérez. In the process, Bautista Jr. extended his team-leading hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 18 games, tying for the Lugnuts’ longest in 2023.

CJ Rodriguez added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, a run that proved important when Miller homered off Pedro Santos in the eighth.

But that was Santos’ only moment of vulnerability. The 6-foot-5 right-hander struck out six Kernels in firing the final three innings, nailing down the win.

The Lugnuts now ride back to Michigan’s state capital for the start of a two-week homestand, opening with a Tacos and Tallboys Tuesday night tilt with Fort Wayne at 7:05 p.m. at Jackson® Field™. Tickets are available via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500 during office hours.

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