Robby Kuzdale saw a nearly two-week hitting streak end Saturday night.
He might’ve started a new one Sunday afternoon in a 9-2 win over the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
Kuzdale, who went hitless in four at-bats Saturday, which ended his 13-game hitting streak, had a 3-for-4 game, including a home run, Sunday as the T-Bones won the series against the Saltdogs.
Kansas City jumped ahead early against Lincoln starter Kevin McGovern (2-1).
The first swing of the game gave the T-Bones a 1-0 lead as T.J. Mittelstaedt launched his 11th home run of the season into the right-field bullpen.
Four batters later, Bryan Sabatella squeezed a base hit under the glove of Lincoln second baseman Luis Nunez, allowing Matt Padgett to score from second and giving the T-Bones an early 2-0 lead.
Lincoln would tie the game against T-Bones starting pitcher Andy Noga with a two-run homer from Brian Joynt in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Jared Messer (2-2) relieved Noga with one out in the fifth and picked up the win after pitching two-thirds of an inning.
Kansas City took the lead for good in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by Danny Richar and an RBI single by Nick Schwaner.
The T-Bones broke the game open in the ninth inning as they sent 10 batters to the plate and came away with five runs against Jhonny Montoya, including Kuzdale’s homer.
The T-Bones (33-35) will have Monday and Tuesday off for the American Association All-Star Game, before beginning a four-game series at Gary SouthShore on Wednesday night.
Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178049 – Story from T-Bones
Jacob Peterson
Sporting Kansas City earned its fifth consecutive road win in improbable fashion on Saturday, coming from behind for a 2-1 victory over Toronto FC at BMO Field.
Graham Zusi’s goal in the 48th minute canceled out Jackson’s 16th-minute strike and — playing with 10 men after a red card to Matt Besler in the 75th minute — the reigning MLS Cup champions secured the full three points when Jacob Peterson scored the decisive game-winner against his former club in the 80th minute.
The win extends Sporting KC’s unbeaten streak to seven consecutive MLS matches, highlighted by six victories over the stretch, and moves the club level with Seattle atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. The five-match road winning streak is tied for the fourth longest in MLS history and second best in the non-shootout era.
Goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum made three saves for his fourth straight victory since replacing the injured Eric Kronberg in net. The Overland Park, Kan., native becomes only the second goalkeeper in MLS history to earn wins in regulation in the opening four regular season appearances for a club and first since Jorge Campos did so with the LA Galaxy in 1996.
Gruenebaum made his first play of the match in the eighth minute, diving low to his right to get a hand on a shot by Dominic Oduro from the right side of the penalty area. Gruenebaum’s counterpart, Toronto FC goalkeeper Joe Bendik, was then called into action minutes later; first to punch away a deflected cross from Igor Juliao and then a sprawling save to turn away the follow-up effort from the Brazilian right back.
Toronto FC, who had lost only once in 10 games entering Saturday, looked set to continue their winning ways when Jackson opened the scoring inside 16 minutes. Oduro’s well-weighted pass put Jackson in prime position to take a touch around Gruenebaum before sending his shot into an empty net for his third goal of the season and 14th of his MLS career.
Oduro, a nine-year MLS veteran, proved to be dangerous throughout and won eight fouls for his efforts. The Ghanaian playmaker nearly doubled Toronto FC’s lead in the 23rd minute when his cross was headed off the post by Nick Hagglund and then in the 33rd minute when an attempt of his own struck the woodwork. Toronto FC has now seen shots hit the woodwork 11 times in 2014, second most among all MLS teams.
Having weathered the rough waters, Sporting KC emerged in the second half and wasted little time in putting the game back on level terms. Zusi began the scoring sequence by working his way past two Toronto FC players and ultimately finished it off after a frantic scramble inside the area. Successive shots from Benny Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer were blocked but the ball eventually fell to Zusi at the top of the 18-yard box. The MLS All-Star expertly picked out the top corner and placed his shot through traffic with 10 players ahead of him in the area.
The goal, his second of the season, ties him for 10th place on the club’s all-time goal scoring chart with 19 in his six-year career.
Toronto FC responded with a trio of scoring opportunities and all coming from the foot of Jackson, who was acquired via a trade with FC Dallas prior to the 2014 season and recorded eight shots on Saturday.
In the 50th minute, Gruenebaum smothered his shot from 12 yards out and then 10 minutes later he showed off a kick save to thwart the Brazilian from even closer range. Jackson had a chance to make amends at the 65-minute mark but sent his shot over the crossbar on a well-whipped cross from Oduro.
Bendik had come up big with a save on Feilhaber in the 59th minute and the home side gained a man advantage when Besler received his second caution of the second half with 15 minutes to play. Referee Ted Unkel, in the middle of his eighth career MLS match, whistled 38 fouls and issued eight cautions on Saturday.
Nevertheless, Sporting Kansas City stunned the sell-out crowd with the decisive goal five minutes later. Just over two minutes after entering the match, Peterson combined with Dom Dwyer before breaking the deadlock with his second goal of the season and 15th of his nine-year career.
Peterson, who played in Toronto during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, snapped a streak of 10 consecutive regular season losses for Sporting KC when conceding the first goal (dating back almost exactly a year to July 27, 2013). In doing so, his goal was the team’s 10th goal after the 75th minute in 2014 (third most in MLS), four of which have been game-winners.
Toronto FC inserted Canadian internationals Jonathan Osorio and Dwayne De Rosario in a mission to rescue a result late. De Rosario, a former MLS MVP and six-time Best XI selection, now moves into a tie with Pablo Mastroeni for most career games played (334) and forced a diving save from Gruenebaum in the 86th minute.
On a night when Toronto FC was without Jermain Defoe because of caution accumulation, fellow Designated Players Michael Bradley and Gilberto were held to only a single shot each. Bradley’s was the final attempt at an equalizer, skipping wide of the post from 20 yards out in the 89th minute.
Manager Peter Vermes again led his side to a positive result against the Canadian club as he is now 8-1-3 in his coaching career against Toronto with wins in seven of the last nine meetings. Moreover, Sporting KC now boasts eight regular season wins in Canada all-time — tied for most among American clubs.
Sporting Kansas City returns home to play host to the Philadelphia Union at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are available for the match, which will be nationally televised on NBC Sports. – Story from Sporting KC
Kansas City got a home run from Ray Sadler in the eighth inning, but it was too little, too late as the T-Bones dropped a 3-1 decision to Lincoln on Saturday night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
Kyle DeVore pitched well enough to keep Kansas City in the game, but he didn’t get the offensive support through his 5 innings of work. DeVore (3-4) allowed two runs, both in the fourth inning. Tyler Smith grounded out to Vladimir Frias, but Mike Gilmartin, who led off the inning with a double, was able to score from third. One batter later, Chad Mozingo ripped an RBI double in right-centerfield that scored Matt Forgatch and expanded the Saltdogs lead to 2-0.
The Saltdogs scored an additional run off T-Bones reliever Hamilton Bennett in the sixth inning after Tyler Smith started the inning with a walk and then came around to score on an Ian Gac sacrifice fly to deep center.
Lincoln starting pitcher Zach Varce (3-6) held Kansas City to just three hits in 6 shutout innings. The T-Bones got only five hits in the game, one night after knocking 18 in a win.
The lone run for Kansas City came in the eighth inning, when Ray Sadler belted a solo homer off Saltdogs reliever Connor Spink, making it a 3-1 T-Bones deficit.
Marshall Schuler (23) pitched a scoreless ninth inning against Kansas City.
The T-Bones (32-35) look to take the rubber match from Lincoln (34-31) Sunday afternoon at Haymarket Park with first pitch slated for 2:05.
