Kansas City (15-10) defeated Gary SouthShore (13-15) 4-0 Thursday night, led by a dominating pitching performance by right-handed pitcher Nick Travieso (2-4) to complete the series sweep.
The Monarchs struck first and took the lead early in the first inning with an RBI double by Jan Hernandez that hit the left field wall in the deepest part of the ballpark that drove in Ryan Grotjohn to put Kansas City up 1-0.
Travieso got off to a great start by striking out three batters in the first three innings. He would run into some trouble in the third inning by giving up back-to-back singles that resulted in runners at first and third for the RailCats with no outs.
Travieso then struck out the next batter and catcher Alexis Olmeda threw out the runner stealing second and getting two quick outs to get out of the jam. Travieso then struck out the very next batter, preventing any damage.
The Monarchs’ offense caught fire in the fourth inning: Casey Gillaspie started the action with a double, followed directly by an RBI single from Charcer Burks, driving in Gillaspie for the Monarchs to take a 2-0 lead.
The hitting clinic continued with Johnny Field up next, hitting an RBI double, driving Burks, and putting the Monarchs up 3-0.
Travieso controlled the game in his entire performance. He completed his outing, pitching six shutout innings earning a quality start. He struck out six while only giving up four hits and two walks.
Manager Joe Calfapietra praised Travieso for his dominant performance: “It was big time, he pitched awesome, got ahead in the count, and when he got down in the count, he came back and made pitches. Just a really good outing,” Calfapietra said.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Field started off the inning with a single and then stole second, putting himself in scoring position for the Monarchs. Morgan McCullough hit a deep ball all the way to the center field wall that was caught by Jesus Marriaga of the RailCats at the warning track, but the speedy Field tagged and scored from second to put the Monarchs up 4-0.
Right-handed pitcher Cody Mincey pitched the seventh and eighth inning while left-handed pitcher Carlos Diaz pitched the ninth, taking care of business and striking out all three batters.
The Monarchs got the shutout win 4-0 and swept the RailCats. Kansas City has now won eight in a row.
The Kansas City Monarchs will continue their homestand in a new series against the Winnipeg Goldeyes at Legends Field on Friday night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. with the gates opening at 5 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
- Story from Dan Vaughan, Kansas City Monarchs
