[dropcap]B[/dropcap]uck Farmer struck out 11 batters Friday night, as the West Michigan Whitecaps cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Cedar Rapid Kernels at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
West Michigan (9-6) has won six out of their last eight games, with their only losses coming in extra innings. The Whitecaps will attempt to sweep the series against the Kernels (8-7) on Saturday afternoon.
Farmer kept the Kernels off balance all game, with only one of his 11 strikeouts being recorded on a called third strike. Along with the 11 strikeouts, in seven innings he only allowed two hits, one walk and no runs.
It was quite the pitching matchup, as the Whitecaps got to face Kohl Stewart, who was selected with the fourth-overall pick of the 2013 draft by the Minnesota Twins. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Whitecaps finally broke through.
A single by Javier Betancourt started the rally and advanced to third on a double by Raph Rhymes. A sacrifice fly by Dominic Ficociello put the Whitecaps up 1-0, which was followed by a run-scoring double by Ben Verlander.
It was still 2-0 in the seventh, when Brett Harrison got a leadoff double for the Whitecaps. A one-out walk to Bennett Pickar put two runners on base, which Wynton Bernard quickly cleared with a three-run home run down the left-field line.
The five run lead was plenty for West Michigan, as their bullpen was able to continue their dominance in the Midwest League.
The Whitecaps will conclude their road trip on Saturday afternoon when they close out their series with the Kernels. RHP Austin Kubitza (2-0 0.84) will start for the ‘Caps and RHP Felix Jorge (1-1 6.00) is scheduled to take the mound for the Kernels, with the first pitch at 2:05 p.m. ET.
