Robinson Pina didn’t even make it out of the first inning in his last start.

And the first two Cedar Rapids Kernels hitters in Tuesday’s game against the Burlington Bees looked like they were going to start a repeat performance.

Jacob Pearson singled and then Gabe Snyder followed with another single.

But Pina was going to stick around for a while. He struck out two of the next three hitters he faced, surrounding a force play at second base.

While the Bees couldn’t come up with enough hits in the 3-1 loss in the Class A Midwest League game at Community Field, their pitching — especially Pina’s — proved to be the lone positive of the night.

Pina (4-4) struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings, staying around a lot longer than his two-thirds of an inning work at Quad Cities last Thursday.

“That’s a nice rebound from his last outing,” Bees manager Jack Howell said. “That was nice to see. That’s part of their development — to learn how to pitch when you don’t have your good stuff. Things kind of escalated on him the last time. Tonight he pounded the (strike) zone. Throwing strikes.

Pina was knocked around in the 10-2 loss to the River Bandits. He gave up three hits and three walks which led to five earned runs. He threw just 31 pitches that night, only 14 for strikes.

On this night, Pina would last through 73 pitches, and 53 of those were for strikes.

“That’s the difference,” Howell said. “You’ve got to make those pitches when you need them.”

Pina didn’t give up a run until the fifth. Snyder’s single scored Estamy Urena to tie the game, then Snyder scored on an error.

That was more than enough for the Kernels, who held the Bees to just four singles, two by leadoff hitter Jordyn Adams.

“One run on four hits isn’t going to cut it,” Howell said.

The Bees’ lone run came in the second. Catcher Harrison Wenson was hit by a pitch with one out. He then stole second, moved to third on a throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch.

The other two hits for Burlington came at the bottom of the batting order. Alvaro Rubalcaba, batting ninth, had a bunt single in the third inning. Justin Jones, batting eighth, had a sharp single in the fifth.

Austin Schulfer (6-4), who combined to no-hit the Bees in the second game of a doubleheader in May, allowed three of the four hits in this game. He struck out eight.

Schulfer is 3-0 in three starts against the Bees this season, allowing 10 hits in 18 innings while striking out 26.

The Bees fell to 4-8 in the second half.

ON DECK: The two teams have a 6:30 p.m. game Wednesday. Burlington’s Cole Duensing (5-4, 4.48) will face Cedar Rapids’ Tyler Palm (1-4, 4.73).

NOTES: Adams went 2-for-4 after going 0-for-20 in his last five games. He is batting .378 against the Kernels this season. … Cedar Rapids leads the season series, 7-4. … Attendance was 562.

Photo: Robinson Pina delivers a pitch in the first inning of Tuesday’s game. Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees

DAVENPORT — The best part of Jack Howell’s night came before the game.

The Burlington Bees manager took the lineup card out to the pre-game meeting at home plate, while the Quad Cities River Bandits card was delivered by … a robot.

It was Navy Night at Modern Woodmen Park, and the robot was part of the military show.

“I thought that was pretty cool,” Howell said.

The first inning was pretty cool, with the Bees taking a 1-0 lead.

Then Bees starting pitcher Robinson Pina came out, and his first pitch to Ross Adolph was a ball.

And that was only the beginning.

Pina didn’t make it out of the first inning, allowing five runs as Quad Cities roared to a 10-2 win in Thursday’s Class A Midwest League game.

The Bees fell to 2-5 in the second half after a game that got out of hand not long after the first pitch left Pina’s hand.

“We get a run, and you want to go out and get off to a good start,” Howell said. “The first pitch right away is a ball, and then he walks the guy.”

Adolph walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Oscar Campos’ single.

After Cesar Salazar walked to load the bases, David Hensley cleared them with a double to left field, and the River Bandits led 4-0.

Jonathan Lacroix’s RBI single ended Pina’s night.

Pina (4-3) threw 31 pitches, only 14 for strikes.

“He’s been so good for us all season,” Howell said of Pina, who was one of the Bees’ three representatives for the Midwest League All-Star Game. “Everyone has nights like this.”

Austin Krzeminski ended the first inning with a one-pitch out, but he gave up two more runs in the second inning to give Quad Cities a 7-2 lead.

The Bees had just four hits — three in the first two innings, including a run-scoring single and a run-scoring double from Kevin Maitan — but didn’t have a hit after the fourth inning.

The Bees’ pitching highlight of the night came from Dylan King, who joined the team on Wednesday. King, an 18th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in last year’s Major League Baseball draft, didn’t allow a hit in three innings, walking two and striking out four.

Felipe Tejada (3-0) was the winning pitcher.

ON DECK: The two teams conclude their four-game home-and-home series with Friday’s 6:30 p.m. game. Bees starting pitcher Cole Duensing (5-3, 4.32 ERA) will face Quad Cities’ Jonathan Bermudez (1-0, 3.97).

NOTES: The season series between the two teams is tied at 5. No team has a winning series record against Quad Cities (47-25) this season. … Lacroix went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Lacroix is batting .404 in 16 games over two seasons against the Bees. … Hensley went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs. Hensley is batting .292 and driven in six runs against the Bees this season.

Photo: A robot brought out the lineup card during the pre-game meeting.

Jack Howell’s welcome-back gift upon his return from vacation was an eight-run first inning.

The Burlington Bees manager laughed when asked about how big that start was in Tuesday’s 9-0 rain-shortened win over the Quad Cities River Bandits at Community Field.

“Shouldn’t even have to explain that one,” he said, smiling. “It’s a delight.”

Howell, taking his four-day break while Los Angeles Angels field coordinator Chad Tracy managed the team in a weekend series against Kane County, came back to see 12 Bees come to the plate in the first inning. The first seven batters reached base, knocking Quad Cities starter Matt Ruppenthal (2-2) from the game.

“Obviously getting off to a big lead like that … eight is a little unrealistic, but boy, you’ll take them,” Howell said.

Jordyn Adams led off the inning with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 10 games. Kevin Maitan singled, then Francisco Del Valle doubled to score Adams. Nonie Williams followed with a two-run single.

The next three hitters — Spencer Griffin, Justin Jones and Harrison Wenson — walked, bringing in another run for a 4-0 lead. Quad Cities reliever Layne Henderson struck out Alvaro Rubalcaba, but Fitzsimons answered with his home run to center field.

Howell said there had been times in the first half when the Bees would start an inning strong, but only get a couple of runs.

“Those eight runs were a couple of walks, a couple of hits, a couple of walks, a couple of hits,” Howell said. “And then the big blow.

“This was a neat thing where the inning didn’t get away from us. We tacked on.”

And Howell was pleased that was an additional run in the second, when Jones singled in Williams.

“So, not only do we get eight, but then we add on in the next inning,” Howell said.

All of this was more than enough for Bees pitcher Kyle Tyler (3-0), who allowed four hits and two walks in five innings.

Tyler threw 78 pitches, 47 for strikes.

“We told him to pound the zone, and he did,” Howell said.

Quad Cities had runners on second and third in the second and fifth innings, but couldn’t score.

After Austin Dennis’ flyout to center field to end the fifth, the umpires cleared the field as a thunderstorm approached. The game was called off 40 minutes later.

ON DECK: The two teams play a 6:30 p.m. game on Wednesday. Bees starter Hector Yan (2-2) will face Quad Cities’ Jose Alberto Rivera (2-3).

NOTES: The Bees had several roster moves since Sunday’s game. First baseman/designated hitter D.C. Arendas and pitcher Cristopher Molina were promoted to High-A Inland Empire. Infielder Morgan McCullough, the Angels’ 22nd-round draft pick earlier this month, and pitcher John Cain were assigned to the Bees’ roster. … Williams has hit in six of his last seven games, going 8-for-26 (.308) in that stretch. … Adams is batting .333 in his last 10 games. … Attendance was 531.

Photo: Bees manager Jack Howell (right) congratulates Connor Fitzsimons after his first-inning grand slam. Photo courtesy of Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees

Chad Tracy’s job as the Los Angeles Angels’ field coordinator takes him to different ballparks throughout the season.

Usually, the perspective he gets while watching the Angels’ affiliates is from a distance.

But Tracy also likes getting back in the dugout to manage, which he did last weekend with the Burlington Bees.

Tracy, filling in while Jack Howell took vacation time after the Midwest League All-Star break, managed the Bees for the four-game series against the Kane County Cougars.

Tracy was back in his old office — he managed the Bees in 2015 before spending two seasons as manager of the Angels’ High-A team at Inland Empire.

“I’m around these kids so much, whether it’s in spring training or (instructional league),” Tracy said. “It’s nice to get to engage with them, lead them, go through the work and be in charge of that. It’s enjoyable.

“It’s a different kind of level (managing the team). When you’re here as a coordinator, you’re more an evaluator, sit back and watch. You come in in this role, you can get your hands dirty again and get out there among them.”

What Tracy saw is what he figured out from evaluating them in person earlier in the season as well as keeping track of the Bees’ games online.

Asked what he learned from the weekend, Tracy said, “Nothing that I didn’t already know. They’re hard workers. They seek you out to work. They’re not afraid to work. Their chemistry, their locker-room presence, is awesome. And they don’t quit. And that’s nothing I didn’t know from afar.”

Tracy praised the clubhouse culture that Howell and the Bees’ coaching staff has created.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s one of the best in the system.”

The Bees lost three of the four games against the Cougars, but all four games were close. Kane County won Thursday’s game, 2-1, on a ninth-inning home run after the Cougars had broken up a no-hitter earlier in the inning. Kane County won both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, 3-2 and 4-2, before the Bees came back to take Sunday’s finale, 7-6, in 10 innings.

“This team, they just keep coming at you,” Tracy said of the Bees. “That’s what they did in the first half. We had a chance to win all four of those games. I’m proud of the way they played.”

Tracy said there are parts of managing that he misses.

He talked about Thursday’s game, when the Bees carried that no-hitter into the ninth.

“Guys are into the game, they know what’s going on, they’re hanging on every pitch,” Tracy said. “That’s the part of the game I miss. There is a lot of the field coordinator part that I love. But that feeling in the dugout, you can’t replicate.”

YAN HEATING UP

Hector Yan didn’t need a translator to explain how much he appreciates the hot weather after the first couple of months of the season.

Yan was asked after Thursday’s game if he enjoys the weather the Bees are playing in now.

“Si, si,” he said, laughing.

Yan, who is from the Dominican Republic, is 2-2 with a 3.07 earned run average this season. He has allowed just 36 hits in 55 ⅔ innings, striking out 78, fourth-best in the Midwest League. Opponents are hitting .182 against him.

But his numbers have improved with the weather.

Yan was 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA in April. He was 0-1 with a 4.41 ERA in May.

But in June, Yan is 2-0 with an 0.44 ERA. He has a streak of 15 innings without giving up a run and 11 innings without a hit.

“He’s been pitching well all year,” Tracy said. “But he’s certainly kicked it to the next level here in the last month. Just great stuff, and he seems to be getting better and better as the year goes on, and that’s great.”

STAT PACK

The Bees are 20-11 in one-run games, tied for second in wins among all minor league teams. They are now 7-2 in extra-inning games, tied with nine other teams for the second-most wins. … Pitcher Jose Soriano ranks fourth in the league in batting average against (.203), fifth in ERA (2.55) and is tied for eighth in strikeouts (72).

THE WEEK THAT WAS
Record: 1-3

Batting average: .214

Opponents’ batting average: .222

ERA: 3.45

Opponents’ ERA: 2.81

Notes: Bees outfielder Jordyn Adams has a nine-game on-base streak. … Bees starting pitchers struck out 21 in 22 innings. … Justin Jones hit .363 in the four-game series, while Nonie Williams hit .357.

THE WEEK AHEAD

• Quad Cities (6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Community Field, 6:35 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport) — The River Bandits, 2-1 in the second half after winning the Western Division first-half title, are 45-24 overall, best in the league. The Bees are the only team with a winning record against them, going 4-3.

• At Peoria (6:35 p.m. Saturday and Sunday) — The Bees are 4-2 against the Chiefs this season, but lost two out of three to them in the final weekend of the first half, which kept Burlington out of the playoffs.

ALUMNI REPORT

• Jo Adell (2018) is ranked No. 4 overall on MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects list. Adell, playing for the Angels’ Double-A team in Mobile, is batting .361 since his return from an injury suffered in spring training. Adell is batting .389 in the last 10 games, .400 in the last four games.

• Orlando Martinez (2018) has an eight-game hitting streak at Inland Empire. Martinez, batting .302 this season, is hitting .370 in the last 10 games and .371 in the current hitting streak.

Photo of Chad Tracy courtesy of Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees

Chad Tracy didn’t want to leave without a win.

Tracy, the Los Angeles Angels’ field coordinator, managed the Burlington Bees this weekend to fill in for a vacationing Jack Howell.

The first three games, on Thursday and then in Saturday’s doubleheader, the Bees lost. Two of those defeats were by one run, one was by two.

This was Tracy’s last chance to get a victory, and the Bees obliged with one of those comebacks that felt so much like the first half.

Justin Jones’ two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning gave Burlington a 7-6 win over the Kane County Cougars in Sunday’s Class A Midwest League game at Community Field.

It was the first victory in the second half for the Bees, who missed out on the second first-half playoff spot in the Western Division because of a tiebreaker.

“It’s a huge one,” said Jones, who pounded a 2-1 down-and-in fastball from Kane County reliever Kai-Wei Lin (2-2) out for the game-winner. “All-Star break, you come back, start fresh, and then you lose the first three games, that’s tough.”

The Bees rallied from a 5-2 deficit to tie the game with a three-run ninth inning.

Geraldo Perdomo’s double in the 10th inning drove in Joey Rose to give Kane County a 6-5 lead. But the Bees got out of the inning when Eduardo Diaz lined into a double play.

Connor Fitzsimons was on second base under Minor League Baseball’s extra-inning rule to start the Bees’ half of the 10th. Tracy didn’t give much thought to bunting, and Jones was OK with that.

“It’s a situation where a lot of teams would bunt,” Jones said. “Down one, got to get a run. But not us.”

“I wanted to let him hit,” Tracy said. “Obviously, if you’re the home team, and they only push one across, you can obviously play for the bunt. As long as you keep the tie at home, you kind of have the advantage. That being said, I just felt like, ‘Let’s go for the win.’ It was as simple as that.

“I liked the at-bats Jonesy had taken today. I wanted to see him go get it.”

He did, touching off a wild celebration at home plate, with Jones throwing his helmet into the air before being mobbed by teammates.

“Big win, for sure,” Jones said.

The Bees have been all about close games all season. They’re 20-11 in one-run games, tied for second in wins among all minor league teams. They are now 7-2 in extra-inning games, tied with nine other teams for the second-most wins.

“They just stayed with it,” Tracy said. “They’re a resilient group — they have been all year.”

“This entire year, this team has been fighting, battling, come-from-behind victories,” Jones said. “A lot of close games. It felt good to win one.”

Tracy had wanted the Bees to put more pressure on the Cougars offensively after only brief outbursts in the first two games. Burlington had runners on base in every inning, but only got single runs in the first and third innings.

The frustration was apparent when the Bees loaded the bases with one out in the second inning. Jordyn Adams hit a hard grounder that looked like it was going to get into center field. But Perdomo, playing shortstop, cut the ball off up the middle and flipped the ball to second baseman Blaze Alexander. Alexander made the bare-handed catch on the throw to get the force out, then threw to first to catch Adams by a step.

It was the only way the Cougars were going to be able to catch the speedy Adams, and it turned into a perfect play.

“After that, I thought we went quiet for a while,” Tracy said.

Then came the eighth inning.

Tim Millard singled to open the inning, then moved to second on Kevin Maitan’s one-out single. Nonie Williams hit a line drive that center fielder Alek Thomas looked to have a play on, but Thomas slipped and the ball fell in front of him. Millard and Maitan scored to cut the lead to 5-4.

The Bees had runners on first and third with two outs when Harrison Wenson hit a hard grounder to third baseman Buddy Kennedy. But the ball bounced up and hit Kennedy in the face. Kennedy picked the ball up, then threw wildly to first as the tying run scored.

“All of a sudden, around the eighth, we started piecing together quality at-bats,” Tracy said. “Put more traffic out there. We got some help with mistakes, obviously, but we helped them out, too, today.”

Tyler Smith (5-1) was the winning pitcher.

Tracy was happy to leave town with a victory.

“It was awesome,” he said, smiling.

ON DECK: The Bees open a two-game home series with the Quad Cities River Bandits on Tuesday, with Monday being a league-wide off day.

NOTES: Thomas, who hit a three-run home run to give Kane County the lead in the third inning, robbed Maitan of a home run to start the bottom of the inning by making a leaping catch at the wall in right-center field. … Adams has a nine-game on-base streak after his single to lead off the first inning. … Attendance was 661.

Photo: Justin Jones heads into the celebration after hitting the game-winning two-run home run in the 10th inning.