Whether it was Manager Jake Mauer's closed door clubhouse meeting Monday night that did the trick or something else, the Cedar Rapids Kernels put an end to their six-game losing streak Tuesday with a convincing 9-4 win over the Clinton LumberKings before 1,006 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Kernels have a recipe for success and almost every ingredient was present in Tuesday night's effort.

The Kernels are 26-9 when they score first. Tuesday night, they jumped ahead when catcher Tyler Grimes scored on a Byron Buxton double-play ground ball in the third inning.

The Kernels are 12-3 when they make no errors. The defense not only made no blunders, but came through with some sterling plays in the field.

Finally, the Kernels are 26-5 when they've scored at least four runs. They built a 7-0 lead after sending 10 hitters to the plate in the sixth inning and plating five runners. The long inning featured two-run home runs by Travis Harrison and J.D. Williams.

Williams and Byron Buxton, both with three hits, accounted for half of the Kernels' 12-hit offensive attack.

Starting pitcher Mason Melotakis gave the Kernels the kind of quality start they've been missing the past week, giving up just two runs in seven innings. He struck out three Clinton hitters and walked just one.

Mauer was quick to credit his pitcher.

"Melotakis set the tone," the Kernels manager said. "He got out of some trouble early and made pitches when he had to.

"We'll take a start like that about a million more times."

The big sixth inning allowed Melotakis to become even more aggressive on the mound.

"I knew we had a 7-0 lead and I wasn't going to mess around," he said. "I just kind of revved up and just tried to attack."

Tim Atherton gave up a two-run home run to Clinton cleanup hitter Guillermo Pimentel after relieving Melotakis to start the eighth inning.

Steven Gruver struck out two and benefited from an outstanding defensive play on a ground ball by shortstop Niko Goodrum to slam the door on the LumberKings in the ninth.

Asked afterward whether the team was feeling pressure as its lead in the standings dwindled from five games to just 1 1/2, Williams gave no indication that he and his teammates were letting their recent struggles get them down.

"We're going to be a tough team to beat whether we're struggling or we're hot," said Williams. "We're not really worried about who's in first or who's in second place.

"The team that's playing against us has got to beat us every night whether we're struggling or not."

The Kernels host Clinton again Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.

CLINTON (4): Zorrilla, cf, 5 0 2 0, Lopes, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Kivlehan, 3b, 3 1 1 0, GPimentel, lf, 4 1 2 2, Mariette, c, 2 1 1 0, Ard, 1b, 4 1 1 0, Guerrero, rf, 4 0 1 0, Lara, dh, 3 0 0 1, Marte, ss, 4 0 0  1, DeCecco, p, 0 0 0 0, Garcia, p, 0 0 0 0, Wood, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 33 4 8 4.

KERNELS (9): Buxton, cf, 5 1 3 1, Goodrum, ss, 3 0 1 1, Polanco, 2b, 5 1 1 0, Hicks, 1b, 4 0 1 1, Walker, rf, 4 1 1 0, Harrison, 3b, 4 1 1 2, Grimes, c, 2 1 0 0, CPimentel, dh, 3 2 1 0, Williams, lf, 4 2 3 2, Melotakis, p, 0 0 0 0, Atherton, p, 0 0 0 0, Gruver, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 34 9 12 7.

Clinton   000 000 220 - 4  8 0
Kernels   001 105 20x - 9 12 0

DeCecco, Garcia (6), Wood (8) and Mariette. Melotakis, Atherton (8), Gruver (9) and Grimes. W - Melotakis (4-2). L - DeCecco (3-5). 2B - Zorilla (2). 3B - Polanco (7). HR - GPimentel (6), Harrison (8), Williams (5). SF - Lara. HBP - Kivlehan (by Atherton), Walker (by DeCecco). T - 2:39. A - 1,006.