by Sophie Darting
The Kansas City T-Bones’ bats were kept silent during a rubber match with the Milwaukee Milkmen, as they fell, 12-1, and dropped the series on Thursday evening two games to one.
On a night where both Kansas City’s starting pitching and offense struggled, Milwaukee (5-9) took full advantage of their slow start, scoring 12 runs in easily stealing the series away from the T-Bones.
The Milkmen struck first in the second inning after they got two men on base with two outs. Then Nolan Earley launched a three-run home run off of Kansas City starter Tommy Collier (0-2) to give Milwaukee a quick 3-0 lead.
Milwaukee broke the game open and added one more run in the top of the fifth inning after the Milkmen recorded two-straight base hits with runners in scoring position, and then they skied another three-run home run to make it 8-0 in favor of the Milkmen.
Kansas City (7-5) struggled to figure out Milkmen starter Angel Ventura (1-2), going nine up and nine down and being held hitless throughout the first three innings.
A laser base hit to center field for Darnell Sweeney broke up the no-hitter with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but the T-Bones failed to convert and stranded Sweeney at second.
After a solo shot in the top of the sixth inning and an RBI single, the Milkmen increased their lead to 10 runs. Ventura pitched through seven innings and shut down the T-Bones, only allowing three hits and giving Milwaukee all the time they needed to defeat the T-Bones.
The T-Bones attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom of the eighth after Ramsey Romano got to second base as a result of a single and a throwing error by Milwaukee. Romano went on to score after a wild pitch to get Kansas City on the board.
Milwaukee answered with two runs in top of the ninth to extend the lead to 11 runs and push the game even further away from the T-Bones.
The deficit proved too daunting for the T-Bones to overcome as they eventually dropped the contest and series to the Milkmen.
The T-Bones homestand continutes Friday night as they play host to the Gary SouthShore RailCats in the first game of a three game weekend series with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
The game can be heard on the T-Bones Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:40. T-Bones Live Pre-Game show will air at 6:15 p.m. on Facebook Live.
Full and half-season 2019 ticket packages as well as mini plans are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale. For more information, visit www.tbonesbaseball.com.
- Story from T-Bones