New arms lead T-Bones to sweep

Casey Barnes and Derek Gordon were solid in their Kansas City starting debuts, leading the T-Bones to a doubleheader sweep of Sioux Falls, 4-2 and 10-0, in front of 5,964 Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

In the nightcap, Jeff Lusardi got things going in the second inning for Kansas City, collecting his first RBI as a member of the T-Bones with a single that scored Vladimir Frias, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning. Robby Kuzdale then roped a two-out home run over the centerfield wall that scored Lusardi and gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead.

Kansas City was back at it in the third, opening the inning with four consecutive hits, including RBI singles by Byron Wiley and Jonny Kaplan, that gave the T-Bones a 5-0 advantage. Brian Erie added an RBI single before Kuzdale muscled an RBI ground-rule double to right field, scoring Kaplan. The next batter, T.J. Mittelstaedt, then laced a two-run ground-rule double and extended the Kansas City lead to 9-0. The inning finally ended after 10 batters had stepped to the plate.

Gordon (1-0), who pitched an inning in relief Thursday at Winnipeg, threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout in the seven-inning game for his first win as a professional. Kye Winter (1-1) took the loss.

Kansas City took an early lead in the first game as well, this time off of Sioux Falls starter Joe Bircher (2-5), and would never look back. Wiley led off the second inning with a single before Frias launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall. Erie and Kuzdale both reached base later in the inning and scored on a hit by Mittelstaedt, helping Kansas City extend its lead to 4-0.

Making his Kansas City debut, Barnes (1-0) picked up the win. Kris Regas tallied his 11th save.

With the doubleheader sweep, the T-Bones move to 24-25 on the season. They conclude a four-game series with Sioux Falls Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.

Box score for game 2: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscore.html?gameid=177925​

– Story from T-Bones

Big second inning leads T-Bones to win

The T-Bones scored four runs in the second inning, which proved to be enough as Kansas City took the first game of a doubleheader Saturday over Sioux Falls, 4-2, at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

Kansas City took an early lead off Sioux Falls starter Joe Bircher (2-5) and would never look back. Byron Wiley led off the second inning with a single before Vladimir Frias launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall. Brian Erie and Robby Kuzdale both reached base later in the inning and scored on a hit by T.J. Mittelstaedt, helping Kansas City extend its lead to 4-0.

Sioux Falls’ Carlos Mendez hit a solo homer in the fourth that cut the Kansas City advantage to 4-1, but that would be it for the Canaries off Kansas City starter Casey Barnes, who was making his debut for the club. The right-handed Barnes (1-0) scattered six hits with three strikeouts over 5 innings on his way to his first win of the season. Kris Regas tossed a perfect seventh inning for his 11th save of the season.

Box score, game 1: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=224405
– Story from T-Bones

KCK man injured in I-435 accident

A 19-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man was injured and taken to a hospital after an accident at 11:21 a.m. Saturday, July 5, on I-435 in Olathe, Kan.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s report, a Ford Crown Victoria was westbound on I-435 just west of Quivira when the driver drifted off the right side of the road, overcorrected, went across all lanes of traffic and struck the left barrier wall.

According to the trooper’s report, he was not wearing a safety belt.