by Caleb Grizzle, Monarchs
Franklin, Wisconsin — The Milwaukee Milkmen (28-29) delivered the first scoring punch on Tuesday night with a six-run first inning, milking every last run they could muster off Kansas City Monarchs (38-19) starting pitcher Justin Donatella.
Milwaukee’s first inning set the tone early, but the Monarchs responded late, scoring nine unanswered runs, propelling them to a close 9-8 victory, after surrendering two in the home half of the ninth.
In the first frame, the Monarchs were retired in order by Milkmen starting pitcher, Christian Young.
In the home half of the inning, leadoff Milkman, Bryan Torres singled to center to start an inning that would unravel quickly.
Following Torres’ single, Correlle Prime doubled down the left field line to push Milwaukee’s lead to 1-0. The Milkmen continued on their first inning flurry with an RBI single from Will Kengor and a Dylan Kelly RBI double. Before the Monarchs could escape the inning, the Milkmen added three more runs via an RBI groundout and a two-run RBI single from Torres.
Brock Gilliam replaced starter Justin Donatella for the Monarchs to end the inning for the Monarchs, leaving them trailing 6-0 after one inning of play.
In the second inning, both offenses went quietly in one, two, three fashion. As Christian Young picked up two strikeouts on his way to a seven-strikeout outing, Gilliam picked up one strikeout on his way to retiring Milwaukee in order in the second.
The Monarchs offense finally responded to the early offense from Milwaukee with a torrid tear of RBI doubles. Kevin Santa reached second after an error from second baseman Aaron Hill, to set the stage for a stretch of two-out, back-to-back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles.
Darnell Sweeney drove a deep ground rule double to left center to bring home Santa after he advanced to third base on a Pete Kozma ground out.
With two outs in the frame, the offensive push continued with a Chad De La Guerra RBI double to right field that snuck under the diving glove of Prime.
Jan Hernandez continued the RBI double streak with a double of his own to center field to score De La Guerra.
Matt Adams closed out the scoring in the four-run inning with an RBI double to score Hernandez. The Monarchs trailed the Milkmen 6-4 heading into the bottom of the third.
Gilliam settled in well on the mound, retiring Milwaukee in order again, seven batters in a row in total, to hold the Milkmen scoreless in the third inning.
In the fourth inning, the Monarchs were retired in swift fashion following a fly out from Casey Gillaspie, and a 6-4-3 double play turned by the Milkmen on Santa and Kozma.
Kansas City mirrored the Milkmen with a swift three-batter inning. Logan Trowbridge singled to center field, but following a pop out to left field, he was retired in a 6-4-3 inning ending double play with Prime.
Kansas City threatened to cut into the Milwaukee lead in the fifth inning with Sweeney slapping a one-out single to right field and stealing two bags. Young had other plans and snuffed out any hope, striking out the next two batters in the inning, bringing his total to three for the inning.
Jordan Martinson replaced Gilliam on the mound and retired three out of four Milkmen in the inning, allowing no hits or runs.
The Monarchs closed the gap on the Milkmen with a new Milkman on the mound in the sixth inning. Jack Mahoney replaced Young, striking out the first two batters he faced before surrendering a double to Gillaspie.
With Gillaspie on second base, Santa singled to bring Gillaspie home, cutting the deficit to just one run, leaving the score 6-5 Milkmen. Martinson again held Milwaukee scoreless, retiring three-out-of-four batters in the inning, allowing one hit, no runs and striking out one.
In the seventh inning, Kansas City moved past the Milkmen with offense early in the frame. The Milkmen replaced Mahoney with Frankie Bartow on the mound.
J.C. Escarra’s patience at the plate provided the Monarchs with a walk and a much-needed base runner. Sweeney followed up Escarra’s walk with a single, setting up De La Guerra at the plate for an RBI single to left field to tie the game, 6-6.
After a wild pitch that advanced both runners to second and third and an Adams strikeout, David Thompson singled to score two runs. The Monarchs weren’t able to bring home Thompson, who had advanced to second during his RBI single but ended the inning leading 8-6.
In the bottom of the seventh, Martinson allowed back-to-back singles before retiring the next three batters he faced to hold Milwaukee scoreless.
The Monarchs added an insurance run in the eighth off another new Milkman on the mound, Kyle Huckaby, via a sacrifice fly from De La Guerra. Huckaby escaped the inning with one hit, one strikeout and one run allowed. Brandon Koch relieved Martinson on the mound and wasted no time settling in, striking out three in a row to hold the Milkmen scoreless.
In the final frame, Bret Helton entered to pitch for Milwaukee, retiring the first two batters he faced before allowing a double to pinch hitter Willie Abreu. Helton escaped with a scoreless inning following a flyout from Kozma.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jameson McGrane entered for the Monarchs on the mound with a save opportunity. The Milkmen rallied early in the ninth with a leadoff double and stolen base from Torres.
Prime singled to bring home Torres to cut the deficit to two runs.
With a wild pitch and a single from Will Kengor, the Monarchs led by two with runners at the corners and no outs. The Monarchs secured a much needed 4-6-3 double play, surrendering one run along the way, setting up McGrane to face Dylan Kelly with two outs.
Leading 9-8, McGrane struck him out, securing his ninth save on the season and the Monarchs’ victory.
The Monarchs will play game three of their four-game series with the Milwaukee Milkmen on Wednesday, July 20, evening at Franklin Field in Wisconsin with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m.
The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:05 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.