An enormous sixth inning gave the Kansas City T-Bones the boost they needed to win their ninth consecutive series, as they beat the Grand Prairie AirHogs, 9-6, in front of 5,310 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Thursday night.
Grand Prairie’s offense managed to strike first against T-Bones starter Blake Holovach, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning after third baseman Ridge Hoopii-Haslam hit a two-run single.
With Holovach struggling to find his control, the AirHogs added to their lead with a run in the fifth and three in the sixth, taking a 6-1 lead.
Holovach, who exited after 5 2/3 innings, gave up six earned runs, nine hits and walked four batters while striking out just one on the night.
The sixth inning completely changed the momentum of the game for Kansas City.
After Grand Prairie starter T.J. Bozeman walked Vladimir Frias and Brian Erie — Bozeman’s seventh and eighth walks of the game — the AirHogs turned to Jason Jarvis, who proceeded to give up and RBI single to Jacob Hayes and a two-run double to Ryan Cavan that brought the T-Bones to within two, 6-4.
The double by Cavan was his 700th career hit.
Then, after back-to-back fly outs by Nate Tenbrink and Jake Blackwood, Kansas City continued the inning by sending six more batters to the plate.
After an error by second baseman Jamodrick McGruder allowed James Boddicker to reach first and extend the inning, Robby Kuzdale lined a two-run single that gave the T-Bones their first lead of the game at 8-6.
Kansas City added one more run on an RBI double to the gap by Frias. Before the final out was recorded, the T-Bones sent 12 batters to the plate and held a 9-6 lead.
The T-Bones (24-17) will begin a 10-day road trip starting Friday with four games in Wichita (25-20). All of the action can be heard on 1660-AM in Kansas City or online at tbonesbaseball.com.