Loons use the long ball to take game two, 5-3

April 15, 2008 – The Great Lakes Loons used two 2-run home runs in the fifth and ninth inning to take game two of a three game series from the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Tuesday night at Dale and Thomas Popcorn Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Both home runs were opposite field, with the first hit by Andrew Lambo off Kernels starter Robert Fish, to give the Loons a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning. The Kernels tied the game in the home half as Jeremy Moore clubbed a two run homer to deep left center, his second home run of the year.

The game remained tied until the top of the ninth when Jaime Ortiz hit his first HR of the season off Kernels reliever Eddie McKiernan (0-2) to give the Loons the eventual 5-3 win.

Robert Fish allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walked two and struck out two over 4.2 innings in a no-decision effort. Great Lakes reliever Matt Sartor (1-1) struck out three over two innings to get the win and Miguel Ramirez allowed a hit but no runs in the ninth to earn his fourth save.

Jay Brossman saw his 11 game hitting streak snapped tonight, as he went 0-3 with a run scored. Gordie Gronkowski was 2 for 3 and Jerry Gonzalez was 2 for 4 as the Kernels had six hits. Efren Navarro drove in the Kernels first run in the bottom of the fourth on a sac fly to score Brossman.

The rubber match of this three game series is Wednesday night at 6:30 pm. The Kernels are celebrating the first 70-degree day of 2008 by throwing out 70 first pitches prior to the game.

Its also Z 102.9 Wii Wednesday – fans can sign up at the ‘Z’ van for a chance to play Wii games on the concourse prior to the game. Regular hot dogs are just $1 and the first 250 fans through the gates when they open at 5:30 pm receive a free sample bag of Popcorn Indiana Movie Theater Butter popcorn.

Tickets are available on-line at www.kernels.com, or by calling the Kernels Ticket Office at 896-7560 after 10 am on Wednesday.

                       Great Lakes Loons at Cedar Rapids Kernels
                  Apr 15, 2008 at Cedar Rapids, IA (Veterans Memorial)

  Great Lakes Loons 5 (6-6)                     Cedar Rapids Kernels 3 (6-6)

  Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
  ---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
  Rosario, Jovanny cf........  5  0  1  0       Moore, Jeremy lf...........  4  1  1  2
  Mattingly, Preston 2b......  5  1  1  0       Romine, Andrew ss..........  4  0  0  0
  Mathews, Brian dh..........  4  0  0  0       Brossman, Jay 3b...........  3  1  0  0
  Lambo, Andrew lf...........  4  1  1  2       Gronkowski, Gordie dh......  3  0  2  0
  Garabedian, Alex c.........  3  1  1  0       Navarro, Efren 1b..........  2  0  0  1
  Becker, Joe ss.............  4  0  1  0       De Los Santos, Anel c......  4  0  0  0
  Baez, Pedro 3b.............  4  1  2  0       Johnson, Tyler cf..........  4  0  0  0
  Van Slyke, Scott rf........  3  0  0  1       Gonzalez, Jerry 2b.........  4  1  2  0
  Ortiz, Jamie 1b............  3  1  1  2       Giovanatto, Donato rf......  3  0  1  0
  Morris, Bryan p............  0  0  0  0       Fish, Robert p.............  0  0  0  0
   Sartor, Matt p............  0  0  0  0        Chambers, Brian p.........  0  0  0  0
   Ramirez, Miguel p.........  0  0  0  0        McKiernan, Eddie p........  0  0  0  0

  Totals..................... 35  5  8  5       Totals..................... 31  3  6  3

  Score by Innings                    R  H  E
  -------------------------------------------
  Great Lakes Loons... 010 020 002 -  5  8  2
  Cedar Rapids Kernels 000 120 000 -  3  6  1
  -------------------------------------------

  E - Mattingly, P(1); Baez, P(5); Fish, R(1). DP - Great Lakes 1. LOB - Great Lakes
  6; Kernels 6. 2B - Rosario, J(2). 3B - Mattingly, P(1). HR - Lambo, A(1); Ortiz,
  J(1); Moore, J(2). SH - Van Slyke, S(1); Giovanatto(1). SF - Navarro, E(1). SB -
  Gronkowski,G(1); Giovanatto(1).

  Great Lakes Loons              IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Morris, Bryan .............   6.0  4  3  3  2  5   2  0  0  0   21 25   2 11
  Sartor, Matt  W,1-1........   2.0  1  0  0  1  3   0  0  0  0    7  8   1  2
  Ramirez, Miguel  S,4.......   1.0  1  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  0    3  3   0  1

  Cedar Rapids Kernels           IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Fish, Robert ..............   4.2  5  3  2  2  2   0  0  0  0   20 22   6  6
  Chambers, Brian ...........   2.1  1  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  0    8  8   2  4
  McKiernan, Eddie  L,0-2....   2.0  2  2  2  0  0   0  0  0  0    7  8   4  2

  WP - Morris, B 2(3).

  Strikeouts - Mathews, B; Garabedian,A; Ortiz, J; Moore, J; Romine, A; Brossman, J;
  Gronkowski,G; Navarro, E; DeLosSantos; Johnson, T 3. Walks - Garabedian,A; Ortiz, J;
  Brossman, J; Gronkowski,G; Navarro, E.

  Umpires - HP: Brandon Misun  1B: Nate Thompson
  Start: 6:30   Time: 2:39   Attendance: 753