The Kansas City T-Bones (35-34) left JustBats Field looking to continue their winning streak in the series with the Lincoln SaltDogs (30-40) in Nebraska, but they lost game one 6-3 after a series of costly mistakes in a five-run eighth inning.
The T-Bones were off to a slow start, but they got on the board first in the top of the fourth with a Danny Mars single that sent Shawn O’Malley home, scoring 1-0. Casey Gillaspie furthered Kansas City’s lead to 2-0 with a single that scored Daniel Nava in the top of the fifth, leaving the SaltDogs trailing behind.
Kansas City scored again when Danny Mars advanced to first on a fielder’s choice that scored O’Malley, making it 3-0 in the top of the seventh. The T-Bones looked to be close to blowing the game open but would go on to leave 14 costly runners on base.
The Dogs fought back though in the bottom of the seventh, making it on the board 3-1 on a Tyler Moore single that sent home Josh Mazzola off KC reliever Henry Owens. Owens had a solid night working four innings with seven strike outs and surrendering one run.
Evan Korson came in for Kansas City in the eighth in relief of Owens. Korson, who was traded from Lincoln to Kansas City in early July, immediately got into all kinds of trouble. He allowed the first three batters to reach base on a hit and two walks.
Hunter Smith came in for the T-Bones with the bases loaded and the T-Bones clinging to a 3-1 advantage. The Dogs started to bite in the eighth inning when Curt Smith got hit-by-a-pitch off pitcher Hunter Smith, which scored Christian Ibarra. Then, Mazzola hit a single that scored Forrestt Allday.
But the Dogs weren’t finished yet as a single by Randolph Oduber scored Cody Regis. Then, Smith scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Nick Schulz. Ivan Marin advanced to first on an error by the third baseman Ramsey Romano, scoring Mazzola and making it 6-3.
The winning pitcher was Tyler Anderson (3-0) for the Lincoln SaltDogs, and the losing pitcher was Evan Korson (0-1) for the Kansas City T-Bones. Anderson came in to the game in the seventh and struck out three while giving up one unearned run on the night.
The Kansas City T-Bones and the Lincoln SaltDogs will play game two of the series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at Haymarket Park. Hear all the action on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/, with Dan Vaughan on the call.
Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.
- Story from T-Bones