The Kansas City Monarchs (42-22) pummeled the Sioux Falls Canaries (24-38) Wednesday night at Legends Field. The Monarchs beat the Canaries in a commanding 16-2 victory.
The Monarchs’ offense exploded early. Matt Adams led off the inning with a double over left fielder Angelo Altavilla.
Casey Gillaspie followed with a single to right field, but an error made by right fielder Aaron Takacs allowed Adams to score and advanced Gillaspie to third. A sacrifice fly from J.C. Escarra scored Gillaspie and gave Kansas City an early 2-0 lead over the Canaries.
Pete Kozma kept the offense going as he roped a double off the left field wall. Alexis Olmeda brought him in with an RBI-single up the middle. After Darnell Sweeney walked, Chad De La Guerra hit a three-run bomb to right-center field.
The Monarchs went on to score three more runs and finished the inning with eight hits and a 9-0 lead over the Canaries.
Sioux Falls scraped across a run in both the third and fourth innings on RBIs from Gavin LaValley and Jabari Henry to make it 2-9.
The Monarchs onslaught continued in the bottom of the fourth. Kozma drove in Gillaspie with a sacrifice fly to left field. RBIs from Willie Abreu, Sweeney and David Thompson gave Kansas City a 13-2 lead after four innings of play.
The Monarchs continued to steamroll the Canaries. In the bottom of the fifth, Kozma notched an RBI-single to score Gillaspie.
Two innings later, Escarra doubled and was quickly brought home on an RBI-single from Abreu. Kansas City tacked on another run in the eighth as Adams drove in Sweeney with a single to left field. After eight innings of play, the Monarchs led 16-2.
Brian Glowicki made his season debut for the Monarchs in the ninth inning. He made quick work of the Canaries, striking out two and retiring the side to end the game.
The Monarchs will look to sweep the Sioux Falls Canaries at 7 p.m. July 28 at Legends Field. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
Pete Kozma of the Kansas City Monarchs batted against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Sunday, July 24, at Newman Outdoor Stadium in Fargo, North Dakota, in a 10-7 win for the Monarchs. (Photo from Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks)
by Gabriel Lopez, Monarchs
Fargo, North Dakota — It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. The Kansas City Monarchs (40-22) finished strong Sunday afternoon against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (41-21), defeating them 10-7.
The Monarchs were down five runs through six innings of baseball. A late nine-run seventh inning propelled Kansas City over Fargo-Moorhead, which still sits in first in the West Division.
The RedHawks didn’t waste any time early. In the bottom of the first, Peter Maris worked a walk. Leobaldo Pina followed with an RBI-double to left center field. A few batters later, Rymer Liriano walked to bring up Ben Livorsi who roped a double to score two more runs for Fargo-Moorhead and give them an early 3-0 lead.
J.C. Escarra hammered a two-out double in the top of the second, but the Monarchs couldn’t bring him in as they still trailed by three runs.
The RedHawks continued to add onto their lead. After Nick Novak singled to left field, he quickly stole second base. Evan Alexander worked a walk to bring Peter Maris to the plate.
Maris tallied an RBI-single to right field to score Novak. Pina followed up the at-bat with an RBI of his own. After two innings of baseball, the RedHawks led 5-0 over the Monarchs.
Davis Feldman started on the mound for the RedHawks. He earned a quality start, allowing three runs through six innings of work.
In the seventh inning, the Monarchs’ offense got hot. After Casey Gillaspie walked, Chad De La Guerra belted a two-run bomb to cut Kansas City’s deficit to three runs.
Following the long ball, Escarra, Pete Kozma, and Willie Abreu all collected hits to bring another run home and make it a 3-5 ballgame. Kevin Santa roped an RBI-single to right field to make it 4-5.
The Monarchs tied the game at five when Casey Gillaspie worked a bases-loaded walk, collecting his fourth walk of the day. Kansas City added four more insurance runs and finished the seventh with seven hits, four walks, nine runs and a 9-5 lead over the RedHawks.
In the top of the eighth inning, David Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Darnell Sweeney and extend Kansas City’s lead, 10-5.
The RedHawks closed the gap in the bottom of the eighth as they scored two runs on RBIs from Nick Novak and Christian Correa. After eight innings of play, the Monarchs led 10-7 over the RedHawks.
Jameson McGrane entered the match in the bottom of the ninth. McGrane retired three straight RedHawks to end the game and earn his 11th save of the year.
The Monarchs are back in action for a three-game homestand against the Sioux Falls Canaries at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, at home at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.
The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
Kansas City Monarchs pitcher Jon Harris delivered a pitch against Fargo-Moorhead Saturday night, July 23, at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, North Dakota, in the Monarchs 4-2 loss. (Photo from Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks)
by Caleb Grizzle, Monarchs
Fargo, North Dakota — Untimely walks, wild pitches, and errors plagued the Kansas City Monarchs (39-22) as they weren’t able to fly with Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, losing 4-2 on the road on Saturday night.
Jon Harris provided a strong start on the mound for Kansas City, with five innings pitched, allowing only three hits and two runs on the day. The RedHawks bullpen ultimately shut down the Monarchs offense, allowing only five hits and two runs for the game.
RBIs and hits proved to be scarce throughout Saturday night; through five innings, Kansas City and Fargo-Moorhead combined for only six hits, four runs and one RBI. In the first inning, the Monarchs stole a run via heads up baserunning from David Thompson.
Following two strikeouts from RedHawk starter Tanner Riley, Thompson drew a walk and stole second and third base. Thompson eventually scored from third after a wild pitch. The Monarchs threatened again with two outs but were not able to capitalize with runners on second and third base.
Jon Harris received the start for Kansas City and retired the RedHawks in order, picking up his first strikeout of the night.
Both offenses stayed quiet in the early innings, as the RedHawks brought in reliever, Brady Stover, to pitch in the second. Stover stifled the Monarchs’ offense in the second, third, and fourth innings. Stover recorded four strikeouts, allowed two hits, and one run in four innings of work.
Harris matched Stover’s efforts on the mound with two hitless and scoreless innings in the second and third, as he retired five batters in a row between the two frames.
In the fourth inning, the RedHawks made the most of a two-out single from Ben Livorsi. Harris walked John Silviano early in the fourth, allowing him to reach third base on Livorsi’s single.
With runners at first and third base, Sam Dexter put the RedHawks on the board with an RBI single. On Dexter’s single, Livorsi reached third base. With Livorsi on third base, Nick Novak stepped up to the plate, looking to break the tie. Novak struck out on a dropped third strike but reached first and Livorsi scored, giving the RedHawks a 2-1 lead after four innings.
In the fifth inning, the Monarchs battled back, starting with Darnell Sweeney who reached second base on a fielder’s choice and an error by the shortstop Dexter. With Sweeney on second base with two outs, Kevin Santa’s timely infield single helped Sweeney advance to third base.
With Thompson at the plate, an untimely wild pitch from Stover allowed speedy Sweeney to tie the game, 2-2. Harris settled back in on the mound for Kansas City, retiring Fargo-Moorhead in order behind strong defensive play from Casey Gillaspie.
Joe Jones replaced Stover on the mound for the RedHawks, holding the Monarchs scoreless via a key inning ending 4-6-3 double play.
Harris remained on the mound for Kansas City to start the bottom of the sixth inning before surrendering a leadoff single to Silviano. With Silviano on first, Kansas City called upon Brandon Koch to replace Harris on the mound. Koch struck out three in the inning, allowing only one hit and no runs.
Seven pitches in the top of the seventh inning was all that it took for Jones to retire the bottom half of the Monarchs lineup in order, holding the score even at 2-2. Similar to the sixth, Koch faced the first batter but was replaced after surrendering a hit-by-pitch at-bat to the leadoff RedHawk, Christian Correa.
Jordan Martinson entered for Koch on the mound, securing a fielder’s choice to start his outing, and striking out the next batter he faced to get two outs in the inning. Evan Alexander, who reached first on the fielder’s choice, stole second base, eliminating the force out at second base. Thompson fielded a ground ball on a high hop off the turf at third base but was unable to make a clean throw to first, allowing Alexander to score. The RedHawks led 3-2 heading into the eighth inning.
In the eighth inning, the Monarchs top of the order went down in order, with Joe Jones pitching one more inning for Fargo-Moorhead from the bullpen.
In the bottom of the eighth, the RedHawks added a much needed insurance run off reliever Martinson before Kansas City called upon Jacob Lindgren to hold the score at 4-2. Alex DuBord entered in the ninth to attempt to secure the save for the RedHawks.
Down to their final three outs in the ninth inning, the Monarchs managed a two-out double from Chad De La Guerra. With the tying run at the plate, J.C. Escarra struck out looking to end the game, giving DuBord his seventeenth save of the season.
The Monarchs are set to take on the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in the final game of the three-game series at 1 p.m. Sunday at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 12:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets all Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
