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Clinton LumberKings

Costly Errors Tilt Game to Kernels

July 2, 2010 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Clinton LumberKings News Release


Cedar Rapids, IA - A season-high-tying five errors for the Clinton defense led directly to five Cedar Rapids' runs as the Kernels took the middle game of the series 5-3 over the LumberKings at Perfect Game Field.

The Kernels pressed the Kings' defense from the start, scoring a run thanks to aggressive baserunning and an error by center-fielder Daniel Carroll in the first inning. Matt Long singled on a bunt past the mound and made his way to third on a single by Jean Segura. He was holding at the bag until Carroll's throw home was offline, allowing him to score.

The Kings tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning as Henry Contreras doubled just inside the third-base bag and scored on a two-out roller through the right side from Luis Nunez. Contreras brushed by catcher Jose Jimenez on a play at the plate, jarring the ball free to score the run.

Matt Cerione blasted a solo home run on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Fabio Martinez in the fifth inning, giving the LumberKings a 2-1 lead. That would be short-lived, however, as the Kernels tied the game in the fifth. Gabriel Noriega committed a fielding error at short and Nunez dropped a pop-up at second to put runners at the corners. Justin Bass scored on the back-end of a double-steal attempt as Jon Karcich was thrown out at second.

Tied 2-2 in the sixth, Cedar Rapids finally got to right-hander Erasmo Ramirez. Nolan Brannon laced a leadoff double off the wall in right and Mike Trout walked. Long singled home Brannon for the lead and would later score on a flare single to right-center by Jimenez. Trout also scored on a double-play in the inning.

Nunez singled home Contreras again in the seventh, but the LumberKings could draw no closer than two runs. Martinez (W, 5-2) allowed two runs, one earned over 6.0 innings and the bullpen combination of right-handers Young-Il Jung (H, 1), Matt Oye (H, 1) and Johnny Hellweg (S, 9) produced 3.0 scoreless innings.

Ramirez (L, 5-3) saw a five-game win streak snapped as he yielded five runs, three earned on six hits over 5.2 innings. Right-handers Jorden Merry and Daniel Cooper threw scoreless baseball over the final 2.1 innings.

Contreras led the Kings with a 2-for-4, two-run game. Nunez also went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Cerione went 1-for-4 with his third home run of the season.

Long finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Kernels.

The LumberKings (5-3) conclude the series against Cedar Rapids (4-4) tomorrow night at Perfect Game Field, first pitch scheduled for 6:35 PM. Right-hander Nolan Gallagher (0-0, 0.00) makes his Clinton debut. Listen to the game on AM 1390 KCLN in Clinton or live on the web at 1390kcln.com.

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