Category: Kansas City Monarchs

by Kaitlyn Sanders, Monarchs

The roughly hour-long rain delay at the bottom of the third couldn’t stop the Kansas City Monarchs (25-11) from completing their sweep of the Sioux City Explorers (14-21) with a score of 8-1 on Thursday.

In the bottom of the first, Darnell Sweeney put the Monarchs on the board first with a home run up the center for the 1-0 lead.

Gaby Guerrero batted next, crushing another home run into the visiting bullpen in left field. The back-to-back home runs resulted in an early 2-0 lead.

The Monarchs seemed only capable of homers as Alexis Olmeda hit one out to the home run patio in the second inning to extend the lead to 3-0.

After the rain delay, the Explorers put their first run on the board in the fourth courtesy of Trey Martin. Danny Amaral put one out deep in right field for a triple before Martin hit a single to center field, grabbing an RBI and making the score 3-1 in the top of the fourth.

In the bottom of the sixth, the bases were loaded as David Thompson, Casey Gillaspie and Pete Kozma were all intentionally walked. Olmeda also walked for an RBI, bringing the score to 4-1. With a pitching change from Sioux City, Nate Gercken avoided any more runs on his line as he escaped with loaded bases.

Darnell Sweeney walked in the bottom of the seventh before Guerrero reached first with a high chopper to the pitcher. Thompson launched a home run to left field for a three-run home run to increase the Monarchs’ lead to 7-1.

In the eighth inning, Pete Kozma reached first on an error by the second baseman before Olmeda walked again. With a single to center field, Kevin Santa brought in Kozma for an RBI, adding to Kansas City’s buffer at 8-1.

The next Monarchs game is Friday, June 24, at Sioux Falls against the Sioux Falls Canaries. The away 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.

by Adam Cook, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (23-11) came away with an electrifying win Tuesday night against the Sioux City Explorers (14-19) as the team collected its first comeback win of the season by a score of 8-6 just before a storm rolled in.

It was quite the offensive duel, as the Explorers and Monarchs had nine and 10 hits, but the Monarchs’ offense continued its dominance, coming out on top in this one.

The Monarchs’ Jon Harris was the starter, but it was the Explorers’ Chase Harris who struck first.

Sioux City got on the board early as Chase Harris, the first batter of the game, sent a solo shot to left field and Sioux City took a 1-0 lead. This was the only noise from the first inning as the Monarchs were sat down in the bottom half in four batters.

Sioux City might have led off the second inning the same way they led off the first if it wasn’t for Gaby Guerrero’s home run robbing snag over the visitor’s bullpen.

This did not save the Monarchs from surrendering any runs in the inning, as John Anthon delivered for the Explorers with a 2 RBI triple to give Sioux City a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom half, however, Jan Hernandez added to his American Association leading home run totals with a solo homer over the left field home run patio, cutting the deficit to two.

In the third, the Monarchs’ offense capitalized on Jon Harris’ first 1-2-3 inning of the game. The scoring was led off with an RBI triple from Darnell Sweeney. Gaby Guerrero then drove in Sweeney in the next at-bat with a single over Explorers second baseman Nate Samson, evening the score at three before the end of the inning.

The Explorers did not let the game stay tied for long, however, as a pair of doubles from Chase Harris and Adelmar Rifaela in the fifth inning gave Sioux City the lead once again, 4-3.

The Monarchs answered with a double of their own after Matt Adams went against the shift down the left field line, but was unable to cross the plate.

Leadoff home runs continued to be the theme of the night for Sioux City as Trey Martin led off the top of the sixth with a solo bomb to left field, making the score 5-3 Explorers and chasing Jon Harris from the game for Jordan Martinson.

Martinson’s first batter of the game, Chase Harris, sent a deep fly to the deepest part of the park in left center where Kansas City center fielder Willie Abreu made a stellar over-the-shoulder catch to save a run, end the inning and keep the Monarchs’ deficit at two.

Sioux City only added to the tally in the seventh, however. A ground-rule double from Danny Amaral and a single from Nate Samson extended the lead to 6-3 Explorers.

Martinson then turned a double play and got a strikeout to escape a bases-loaded jam and limit the damage.

In the bottom half, the Monarchs had a shot to cut the deficit with Darnell Sweeney on third and Gaby Guerrero at the plate, but Sweeney was cut down at home to end the inning while trying to tag up on a Guerrero fly ball to left.

With weather quickly rolling in in the eighth, the Monarchs’ David Thompson used the wind to his advantage to hit a line drive to right field that the wind pushed over the fence, giving him a two-run home run and cutting the Explorers’ lead to one.

A two-out Pete Kozma walk brought Monarchs catcher J.C. Escarra to the plate. Escarra came through in a big way with an RBI triple to the right-center gap, putting himself at third base in a now tied ballgame.

Willie Abreu then slapped a backhand ground ball to third base, beating the throw and scoring Kozma to give Kansas City its first lead of the game, 7-6.

After Abreu stole second and third base in back-to-back pitches, Darnell Sweeney continued the two-out rally with a textbook line drive single to straightaway center field, scoring Abreu and cushioning the Monarchs’ lead 8-6.

Jameson McGrane entered for the Monarchs in the top of the ninth, collecting two strikeouts before retiring the side in four batters, sealing the Monarchs’ win.

The Monarchs will go head-to-head against the Sioux City Explorers for game two of the three-game homestand at 7 p.m. Wednesday 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.

by Gabriel Lopez, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (22-11) settled their beef with the Milwaukee Milkmen (18-15) Sunday afternoon.

On Moo Day at Legends Field, the Monarchs offense was incredible, racking up 23 hits, 16 runs and four home runs. Kansas City beat Milwaukee in a whopping fashion, 16-5.

The Monarchs got on the scoreboard first in the second inning. David Thompson led off with a triple to deep left-center. Casey Gillaspie quickly brought him home with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

The Milkmen responded in the top half of the third. After Mason Davis singled to right, Correlle Prime hit a two-run home run to left field to put Milwaukee up 2-1.

The Milkmen’s lead didn’t last long. Willie Abreu and Darnell Sweeney hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Matt Adams stepped up to the plate and launched a three-run moonshot to home run hill as the Monarchs retook the lead, 4-2.

Kansas City added an insurance run in the fourth when Gaby Guerrero drove an RBI single to right to score Sweeney.
The Monarchs started to pour it on the Milkmen in the bottom of the fifth. The offense collected 10 hits, two ground rule doubles, two home run hill bombs, and 10 runs in the inning. Sweeney and Gillaspie both hammered home runs and after five innings Kansas City led 15-2.

Will Kengor hit a solo home run for Milwaukee, but the Milkman still trailed by 12. Both teams were quiet until Alexis Olmeda hit a solo shot over the home run patio to give the Monarchs a 16-3 lead.

The Milkmen scored two more runs in the ninth, but Jameson McGrane retired Dylan Kelly to end the game.

The Monarchs will go head-to-head against the Sioux City Explorers for the first game of the three-game homestand at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, June 21.

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.