Kansas City got a series split with Laredo, after winning the series finale, 4-2, Thursday night at Uni-Trade Stadium.
T-Bones starter Jordan Cooper held the Laredo lineup in check. Cooper threw 6 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking one, commanding the strike zone all night.
The T-Bones jumped ahead in the second inning. Tyler Massey led off the inning with a single to center, before stealing second, his 11th stolen base of the year. After Starlin Rodriguez grounded out and advanced Massey to third, Vladimir Frias doubled him home.
Two batters later, Sergio Leon knocked a single to center that scored Frias and gave the T-Bones a 2-0 lead. That ended the night for Laredo starter Danny Moskovits (2-4).
With Kansas City leading 2-1 in the sixth, the T-Bones added insurance runs thanks largely to the first three batters reaching against reliever Matt Bywater. Bywater led off the inning by walking Anthony Gallas and giving up a single to Massey, putting runners on the corners for Rodriguez. He singled to left, scoring Gallas and moving Massey to third.
Frias then lofted a ball to right field, deep enough to sacrifice Massey home. That gave Giving the T-Bones a 4-1 lead.
That was enough for Cooper (3-2), who’d given up only one more run. In the seventh Drew Martinez reached on an error by Leon with one out. Jesus Posso moved Martinez over with a single on the next at-bat. T-Bones manager John Massarelli then turned to Evan DeLuca. After Alvaro Rondon grounded out, Leandro Castro brought Martinez home with a base hit to center.
After a perfect eighth by Aaron Baker, Mark Haynes was brought in for the ninth. Haynes (11) gave up back-to-back one-out singles to J.D. Pulfer and Martinez before ending the game by striking out Posso and Rondon and securing Kansas City’s win.
The T-Bones continue their 10-game road trip with a three-game series in Joplin. First pitch for the series opener Friday night is set for 7:05. All of the action can be heard on TBonesBaseball.com.
– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones