A four-run sixth inning led the T-Bones to a 5-3 victory over the St. Paul Saints on Sunday evening in front of a crowd of 5,560 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.
Heading into the sixth, trailing 3-1, Kansas City scored four runs in the inning and took a 5-3 lead.
The frame started with a double by Matt Padgett, who scored on a two-out double by Nick Schwaner.
Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Brian Erie, who came through in the clutch with a bases-clearing single to right field that gave the T-Bones the decisive lead.
Pitcher Joe Van Meter was solid in his T-Bones starting debut. He pitched four innings, allowing four hits, two runs (both earned), two walks and four strikeouts.
Padgett had a solid night at the plate for the T-Bones, going 1-for-2 with a double, two walks and two runs scored.
Reliever Pat Doyle (5-4) picked up his fifth victory of the season after pitching 2 1/3 innings, and 2014 American Association All-Star Kris Regas notched his 16th save.
Willie Cabrera was the main source of St. Paul’s offense, going 2-for-4 with a single and a home run.
With the win, the T-Bones (36-37) take the first game of this four-game series against St. Paul (41-31). The series continues Monday night at 7:05. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.
Dom Dwyer
Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer was named an MLS All-Star on Sunday, replacing injured Toronto FC forward Jermain Defoe on the game day roster.
MLS All-Star Head Coach Caleb Porter selected Dwyer to join teammates Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin and Graham Zusi for the league’s showcase against FC Bayern Munich at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
With Dwyer’s addition, Sporting Kansas City’s four players on the MLS All-Star game day roster are tied with the Seattle Sounders FC for most among any team. The two sides lead their conferences and are separated by one point in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
“I am excited to play with some of the best players in Major League Soccer and in the world,” Dwyer said. “It should be a memorable week and I look forward to the events, the game and representing MLS.”
Dwyer ranks second among MLS players with 14 goals this season, third most on the team’s all-time single-season goal scoring chart. His nine left-footed goals and three headed goals lead the League, as do his four multi-goal games.
The 24-year-old is the only player to appear in all 26 competitive matches for Sporting KC this season. He was named MLS Player of the Month in May with goals in four consecutive games.
Selected in the first round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Dwyer scored 26 goals across six competitions in 2013 while splitting time with Sporting Kansas City and the team’s USL PRO affiliate Orlando City SC. The Englishman was the USL PRO’s top scorer and Championship MVP with four goals in the final before propelling Sporting KC to MLS Cup by scoring the game-winning goal in the Eastern Conference Championship.
The 2014 MLS All-Star Game will be nationally televised live on ESPN2 and UniMas in the United States as the MLS All-Stars take on 23-time German Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich.
As part of the 2014 MLS All-Star festivities, the MLS Homegrown Game will make its debut on Monday. Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jon Kempin and defender Erik Palmer-Brown were chosen to the 20-player roster to join the League’s top Homegrown players in a showcase against the Portland Timbers U-23s (9 p.m., WatchESPN, MLSsoccer.com).
2014 MLS All-Star Roster
Goalkeepers: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders : Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), Sean Franklin (D.C. United), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
Midfielders: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders FC), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards : Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Dom Dwyer (Sporting Kansas City), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC), Erick Torres (Chivas USA), Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls) – Story from Sporting KC
The Kansas City T-Bones scored in just one inning Saturday night, but that’s all they needed with a 3-2 victory over Gary SouthShore at the U.S. Steel Yard.
For the fourth consecutive game, the RailCats scored first, this time with a solo home run from Cody Bishop in the fifth inning against Kansas City starting pitcher Andy Noga (2-3). That lone run was the only mistake by Noga, who got his second with of the season after allowing just one run on three hits through 6 dominating innings.
The T-Bones, trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning, had enough of RailCats starting pitcher Morgan Coombs (5-7), by scoring three runs and taking a 3-1 lead. With the bases loaded and one out, T.J. Mittelstaedt tied the game with a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield that scored Bryan Sabatella, who led off the inning with his second of three hits in the game. Two batters later, Danny Richar hit a towering one-hopper over the head of first baseman Craig Maddux, resulting in a two-out, two-RBI triple that scored Vladimir Frias and Robby Kuzdale.
After Gary SouthShore added a run in the eighth against reliever Pat Doyle, Kansas City’s All-Star closer Kris Regas picked up his 15th save of the season with two scoreless innings and four strikeouts.
The T-Bones split the four-game series with Gary, and ended the roadtrip with a 4-3 record after taking two out of three from Lincoln last weekend. With Saturday night’s win, Kansas City (35-37) pulled to within six games of first-place Gary SouthShore (41-31) with 27 games remaining.
The T-Bones returned home Sunday afternoon for a four-game homestand against the St. Paul Saints with Sunday’s first pitch slated at Community America Ballpark.
Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178073 – Story from T-Bones
