by Kaitlyn Sanders, Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs got off to a solid start on Saturday night taking a 2-0 lead after two innings, but the Sioux City Explores dialed up a pair of third inning long balls on the way to a 4-2 win over the Monarchs.
The Monarchs (0-2) picked up an early run in the home half of the first inning on a wild pitch from Explorers starter Tyler Beardsley scoring Pete Kozma to take the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, catcher J.C. Escarra hit the first Kansas City homer of the season, launching a solo shot to right field to make it 2-0 in favor of the Monarchs.
Sioux City (2-0) did not stay down for long as former Monarch Nick Franklin hit a two-run home run tying the game at two.
A batter later, Nate Samson hit a home run of his own, taking a 3-2 lead in the third off Kansas City starter Akeem Bostick.
Sioux City picked up a Samson sacrifice fly in the seventh to give the club a 4-2 cushion, but the Monarchs had chances all night, stranding 12 batters in the loss.
The final chance came in the bottom of the ninth, when Gabby Guerrero drove a two out triple to right center and Matt Adams drew a walk off closer Thomas McIlraith, to put runners at the corners. MtcIlraith then struck out Jan Hernandez on a full count to end the ball game.
Both teams got solid starting pitching for the second straight night. Tyler Beardsley (1-0) picked up the win working 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk for the X’s.
The Monarchs once again had a hard luck loss as Akeem Bostick (0-1) tossed five innings, surrendering three runs on six hits, and adding three strikeouts.
The Explorers took a 2-0 lead over the Monarchs in the first series of the season while Kansas City will look to prevent a sweep of the series with game three against Sioux City at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe will make his Monarchs debut while right-handed pitcher Carlos Sierra will pitch for Sioux City. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m. with the gates opening at 1 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 2:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets to all Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
