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Outfielder Jeremias Pineda has been activated from the seven-day disabled list and was in uniform Wednesday night when the Cedar Rapids Kernels hosted Dayton at 6:35.
Pineda went on the DL on July 1 with a right hamstring strain. He has played in 24 games, batting .173 with one homer and five RBIs. The Twins acquired Pineda in a trade with Boston during the 2012 season.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels have given pitcher Kaleb Merck his unconditional release from the ballclub, the team announced Tuesday.
Merck appeared in six games with a 1-1 record, 6.75 ERA and one save. In 12 innings, he allowed 16 hits and 10 runs (all earned) with three walks and nine strikeouts. The Twins selected him in the 33rd round of the 2012 draft.
The Kernels now have 24 players on the roster, one below the Midwest League maximum.
CLINTON - Tyler Jones was talking on his cell phone after he starred in relief for the Cedar Rapids Kernels Monday night, but he wasn't talking to anyone from Minnesota about a quick jump to the Twins.
He was merely ordering a pizza to be delivered to the ballpark in Clinton, but if he keeps pitching like this he'll be ordering his pizzas at Target Field in Minneapolis some day.
Jones buzzed the LumberKings with 94 and 95 mph fastballs in the eighth and ninth innings as the Kernels snapped their three-game slide with a 5-3 victory over Clinton at Ashford University Field before 712 fans.
CLINTON - Ah, the glamorous life of a professional baseball player.
Private jets. Fancy hotels. Fat contracts.
That's the Major Leagues. Unfortunately for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, they play in the Minor Leagues.
Bus trips. Late nights. Early mornings. Small paychecks. Quick meals on the run. More bus trips. An uncertain future.
CLINTON - The Cedar Rapids Kernels announced Sunday that left-handed pitcher David Hurlbut has been activated from the 7-day disabled list and catcher Jhonatan Arias has been given his unconditional release.
Hurlbut went on the DL June 5 with a left lat strain. He has appeared in 16 games with a 2-1 record, five saves and a 3.60 ERA. In 30 innings, he has allowed 29 hits and 14 runs (12 earned) with seven walks and 21 strikeouts.
Arias played in 22 games, batting .236 (17 for 72) with four doubles and four RBIs. The Twins signed him as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 and 2013 was his seventh season with the Twins organization.
Hurlbut is active and available for Sunday's game at Clinton.
CLINTON - The Cedar Rapids Kernels have built a reputation for not giving up even when they fall behind early, but even when you prove you can come back, sometimes it’s just not enough.
That was the case Saturday night at Ashford University Field in Clinton as the Kernels fell to the LumberKings, 6-5 in 11 innings, before a crowd of 1,652.
Kernels hitters struggled against Clinton pitcher Matt Anderson throughout Anderson’s seven innings of work. The Clinton starting pitcher held the Kernels to three hits, though the Kernels did scratch out two runs against him.
The first Bowl With the Kernels event will be held on Monday, July 15 at 6 p.m. at May City Bowl in southwest Cedar Rapids.
The cost is $10 per person ($15 at the door). Proceeds will go to the Kernels Summer Reading Program.
There will be five people on a lane, plus one Kernels player or coach. The price includes two games of bowling, shoe rental and a drink.
For more information, contact Andy Pantini at (319) 896-7601 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The registration deadline is Wednesday, July 10.
Former Minnesota Twins star Tony Oliva will be the featured guest at the first Twins Breakfast on Saturday, July 27 at the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center in southwest Cedar Rapids.
The event is being hosted by the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who are the Class A affiliate of the Twins in the Midwest League.
Oliva was a two-time American League MVP and an eight-time All-Star for Minnesota during his career from 1962 through 1976. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1964 and finished his career as a .304 hitter with 220 home runs and 947 RBIs.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels dropped a tough ballgame Friday night, but they took another step forward in fan support when they passed 100,000 in attendance for the season.
The Kernels squandered a 6-2 lead and lost to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 8-7, before 3,193 fans in a Midwest League game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Kernels have drawn 101,901 fans in 41 dates this season, which is a healthy 18.9 percent increase and 16,232 fans ahead of last year's figure after 41 openings, according to Cedar Rapids General Manager Doug Nelson.
Cedar Rapids Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins knows his way around a minor league field, having spent parts of 11 seasons as a player in the Minnesota Twins minor league system. Toward the end of the 2007 season, he got to live the dream of every player who ever put on a minor league uniform when he was called up to the Big Leagues by the Twins.
Since 2009, Watkins has been coaching in the Twins minor league organization and this season is his fourth as the hitting coach for the Twins’ Class A affiliate in the Midwest League (the first three coming with the Beloit Snappers). Watkins recently sat down and talked about his role with the Kernels and more.
METRO SPORTS REPORT: This is the first year in Cedar Rapids for you and the team after spending a few years in Beloit. How do you feel things are going here?
TOMMY WATKINS: Things are going great here. The people are amazing, just like the people in Beloit were pretty amazing. But things have jumped off here pretty well.
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