The Kansas City T-Bones, behind a dynamic bullpen effort, beat the Lincoln Saltdogs 4-3 Thursday night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
The win secured the club’s eighth series win and evened the season series with first place Lincoln at three games apiece.
Lincoln grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom the first with a solo home run from Christian Ibarra off T-Bones starter Gabe Perez.
Kansas City took the lead in the top of the second on a two-run homer from Chantz Mack off Seth Webster and the score was 2-1. Marcus Lemon hit a solo home run an inning later, giving the T-Bones a 3-1 lead. Lemon got another hit later in the game to finish the series 7-for-14.
Lincoln then tied the game at three with an RBI single for Matty Johnson that scored two runs for the Saltdogs in the third. That was all the runs Perez (4-2) gave up on the night. He went five innings and struck out six, getting the win.
Kansas City grabbed the lead again in sixth. After a single and two hit by pitches by Webster, the T-Bones loaded the bases.
Webster struck out Tony Caldwell, but Eddie Newton dropped a pop fly single into shallow center to score the go-ahead run.
From there the bullpen did not allow a hit from the bottom of the sixth onward. The combination of Myles Smith, Brandon Sides and Rich Mascheri tossed a three up and three down inning each.
In the top of the ninth, Randolph Oduber led off the inning with a walk, but Cody Winiarski worked around it, striking out Ibarra to end the game with Oduber on third.
The T-Bones’ six game road trip moves on to Sioux City where the two teams open a three-game series Friday night at Lewis and Clark Park in Iowa.
The T-Bones will send out Chris Perry in the starting nod. Game time is 7:05 p.m. and the game can be heard online at tbonesbaseball.com or on the T-Bones MixLR channel.
The T-Bones return home Monday, July 3, to face Sioux Falls in the first game of a three-game series and a seven-game homestand.
Tickets are available online, by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting in person the Providence Medical Center Box Office.
– Story from T-Bones