The Amarillo Thunderheads defeated the Kansas City T-Bones 4-1 Thursday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, completing a three-game sweep.
The loss is Kansas City’s seventh in a row and eighth in its last 10 games. The three-game sweep by the Thunderheads is the third time the T-Bones have been swept in a season series this season.
Just like the first two games of the series, the Thunderheads struck first Thursday, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
With Rene Leveret at third base after he singled and then went to third on a double by Dexter Kjerstad, Leveret scored the first run of the game on a groundout by Ricardo Rodriguez.
The T-Bones tied the game in the fourth inning with their only run of the game behind a Jake Blackwood home run to left field, making the score 1-1.
Amarillo added three more runs in the fifth inning. With back-to-back walks by T-Bones starting pitcher Dustin Loggins to Christian Ibarra and Corey Bass, Geraldo Valentin doubled down the left-field line two batters later, scoring Ibarra and Bass, and giving the Thunderheads a 3-1 lead. Two batters later, Stefan Gartrell hit a double down the left-field line that scored Valentin from third and gave Amarillo a 4-1 lead.
Loggins (2-6) had an up and down outing, giving up six hits and four earned runs, but striking out seven in 6 innings. Opposing starting pitcher Alex Koronis (2-3) had a strong start for the Thunderheads, giving up just one hit, one earned run and throwing four strikeouts in 8 innings.
The T-Bones (41-40) will play host to Joplin (43-39) in a four-game series starting with a doubleheader (two seven-inning games) Friday at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the box office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.
– Story from T-Bones