Soularie hits for the cycle as Kernels best Lugs
LANSING, Mich. – 2020 Minnesota Twins second-rounder Alerick Soularie hit for the cycle, and the Cedar Rapids Kernels (32-18) defeated the Lansing Lugnuts (19-31), 8-5, on Saturday night at Jackson® Field™. The game was played in front of a crowd of 6,591 on REO Speedwagon Tribute Night, with a REO
LANSING, Mich. – 2020 Minnesota Twins second-rounder Alerick Soularie hit for the cycle, and the Cedar Rapids Kernels (32-18) defeated the Lansing Lugnuts (19-31), 8-5, on Saturday night at Jackson® Field™.
The game was played in front of a crowd of 6,591 on REO Speedwagon Tribute Night, with a REO Speedwagon parked along the first-base concourse, a classic rock band playing before and after the game, and special tribute uniforms.
Soularie led off the game with a triple against Lugnuts starter Blake Beers and came in on a a Christian Encarnacion-Strand grounder to give the Kernels a quick 1-0 lead. After a walk in the second inning, the Kernels left fielder delivered an RBI infield single to shortstop in the third inning. He then doubled in a three-run seventh inning before leading off the eighth inning with a solo home run to right-center, completing the first Kernels cycle since Gabe Jacobo on May 8, 2009.
In the losing cause, Beers followed up an 11-strikeout debut at Beloit with a quality start, allowing three runs (two earned) in six innings with seven strikeouts.
Lugnuts right-hander Angello Infante pitched the top of the ninth, allowing a run on two hits and striking out Soularie. It was Infante’s first action since May 20 at Great Lakes.
The Lugnuts were no-hit until the fifth by Cedar Rapids starter Brent Headrick, but Jared McDonald singled and Lazaro Armenteros slugged a monster home run over the left field inflatables to bring the Nuts within 3-2, his sixth home run of the year and second of the series.
It never gets old to watch Lazaro Armenteros annihilate a baseball. pic.twitter.com/w6z7tHfF3h
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) June 5, 2022
Austin Beck singled in Drew Swift in the eighth to pull the Lugnuts within 7-3, with the Lugs adding two more runs in the ninth on an Alex Campos seeing-eye RBI single and a Swift run-scoring double play before ultimately falling.
Beck finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk. He has driven in Swift six times over the course of the series.
The Lugnuts go for a series split on Sunday, a Capital City Market Kids Day with gates opening at 12 noon and first pitch at 1:05 p.m. Nuts right-hander Shohei Tomioka (0.00 ERA) makes his home debut, opposed by lefty Aaron Rozek (4.37 ERA). For more information or to purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.
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