T-Bones starter Sean Furney was strong for 78 pitches but walks cost Kansas City a run in the sixth, as Lincoln beat the T-Bones, 1-0, Wednesday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Furney allowed only two base runners through 5 2/3 innings, but then he ran into trouble.
After recording the first two outs of the sixth inning on eight pitches, Furney labored for the next 25 pitches. Four consecutive batters reached during that stretch. After a walk to Christian Ibarra, Furney gave up a single to Pat McKenna and then walked Luis Alen and Rene Leveret. The final walk brought in Ibarra and gave the Saltdogs a 1-0 lead. Evan DeLuca took over for Furney (1-1) and struck out Ryan Wiggins, ending the inning.
Kansas City didn’t have trouble getting hits against Lincoln starter Matt Larkins (1-0). The T-Bones recorded six against Larkins, but were unable to get a runner past second base. The T-Bones had nine hits in the game, with every starter recording at least one except catcher Cole Leonida.
It looked as if the T-Bones might get something going in the eighth inning when, with one out, Brett Wiley hit a double to the wall in left center, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Wiley’s risky run proved to be a missed opportunity for the T-Bones as Christian Torres then singled to center. Robby Kuzdale ended the inning by flying out to left.
With the win, Lincoln takes the three-game series, two games to one.
Kansas City (3-4) will head out for its first road trip of the season, starting with a four-game series at St. Paul. The first game, Thursday night, is scheduled to start at 7:05. All of the action can be heard online at TBonesBaseball.com.
– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones