T.J. Mittelstaedt’s first home run of the year helped the T-Bones to a 7-3 win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on Sunday night in front of 5,826 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.
Kansas City once again played with an early deficit after Ronnie Bourquin cashed in on a Zach Penprase double with a two out, RBI single in the first. Tim Alberts followed suit in the second, lacing a double down the left field line and then coming around to score on a Travis Higgs single that extended the Fargo-Moorhead advantage to 2-0.
Kansas City finally got to RedHawks’ starter Taylor Stanton in the fourth with a Nick Giarraputo RBI double that scored Bryan Sabatella. Stanton would quickly regain form, however, and strike out Mittelstaedt, stranding two and preserving a 2-1 Fargo lead.
The T-Bones would take control in the sixth. David Espinosa led off the inning with a triple and later scored on a Danny Richar single that tied the game at 2-2. Vladimir Frias then singled and scored Sabatella, who had previously legged out an infield single. That gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead. With runners still at the corners, Fargo-Moorhead called on ace reliever Joe Harris, who hadn’t given up a run in four outings, to escape the jam but saw him instead serve up a three-run homer to Mittelstaedt that gave Kansas City a 6-2 lead. That was the second home run in three games for the T-Bones, who had previously been held homerless in their first five home games.
“This offense is too good to be in the rut they have been in for too long,” manager John Massarelli said of the T-Bones five-run third.
Daniel Barone (1-0) picked up his first win of the season while Stanton (0-2) took the loss. Jared Messer got the save (1) for Kansas City.
With the win, Kansas City finishes up the home stand with an even 2-2 mark and a 5-6 record overall before embarking on a seven-game road trip Monday night.
Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=177677
– Story from T-Bones