Category: Kansas City Monarchs

Monarchs’ home runs halt Saltdogs streak

Willie Abreu of the Kansas City Monarchs watched his first inning home run leave Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas, on Monday night, May 30, as the Monarchs beat the Lincoln Saltdogs 14-9. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)
Akeem Bostick dealt a pitch for the Kansas City Monarchs on Monday, May 30, against the Lincoln Saltdogs in the Monarchs 14-9 win at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)

by Caleb Grizzle, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (11-6) defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs (11-4) in the series opener on Monday, Memorial Day night, 14-9 at Legends Field.

Leadoff, solo home runs to left were the theme of the first frame. The Saltdogs’ Hunter Clanin started the series with a solo blast over the left field wall to put them up 1-0.

Pitcher Akeem Bostick settled in for the Monarchs, retiring the next three batters to finish the top of the first.

The Monarchs’ bats stayed hot against the Saltdogs, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first. Willie Abreu kicked off the home run-filled first frame by smashing the first pitch over the left field fence to tie the game, 1-1.

Matt Adams joined the home run fun, blasting a towering shot to right field to drive in two runs.

Jan Hernandez, the American Association Batter of the Week, continued his dominance at the plate, driving a deep home run to left center to extend the Monarchs lead to 4-1.

Abreu and Hernandez finished the night with two home runs each. Hernandez recorded back-to-back multi-home run games after hitting for the cycle just two nights ago.

The offensive firepower slowed in the second inning as each starting pitcher retired the side in one, two, three fashion.

In the top of the third, Bostick retired his eighth batter in a row before giving up another solo home run to Hunter Clanin.

The Monarchs answered in the home half of the third with a one out, two-run blast from David Thompson that soared over the left field wall. The Monarchs led 6-2 after three.

In the fourth inning, Lincoln closed the gap on the Monarchs’ lead. The Saltdogs used a one-out double and a broken bat single to set up Matt Goodheart for a three-run home run to bring the score to 6-5.

The Monarchs were able to keep the Saltdogs at bay with another run in the bottom of the fourth. J.C. Escarra reached base to start the inning after drawing a walk. Later in the inning, Gaby Guerrero drove a deep fly ball over the Saltdogs’ center fielder, Hunter Clanin, for a two-out, RBI double to push the lead to 7-5.

The Monarchs added to their lead again in the fifth with a Hernandez, one-out single that led to an RBI double from Kevin Santa.

Bostick settled into a groove on the mound in the fifth and sixth inning, recording his ninth strikeout of the night to close the sixth. Bostick finished his night with six innings pitched, nine strikeouts, seven hits allowed and five earned runs.

Jordan Martison provided relief on the mound for Kansas City to start the seventh, striking out the first two batters he faced and holding the lead, 8-5.

The Monarchs resumed their home run hitting habits with Hernandez’s second home run of the day, with a blast over the left-center fence. Abreu kept the offense rolling with his second home run of the night, with a two-run shot to Home Run Hill in right, extending the lead to 11-5.

Brandon Koch was called upon from the bullpen to hold off a Saltdogs comeback in the top of the eighth. Rain started to fall and Lincoln was able to create some offense and drive in two runs to cut into the Monarchs’ lead, 11-7.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Monarchs poured on more insurance runs with patience at the plate and a single from Guerrero. With the bases loaded, Kevin Santa emptied the sacks with a three RBI double to give the Monarchs a 14-7 advantage.

Brock Gilliam finished for Kansas City in the top of the ninth on the mound. The Saltdogs generated two runs off a home run from Ryan Long to bring the score to 14-9. Glliam brought the Memorial Day game to a close with a strikeout, ending the Saltdogs’ win streak at five.

The Monarchs will continue their homestand with game two of a three game series against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 31. 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.

Monarchs sweep Canaries

Jan Hernandez hit one of his two home runs Sunday, May 29, for the Kansas City Monarchs in a 14-8 win over the Sioux Falls Canaries at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)
Willie Abreu of the Kansas City Monarchs rounded the bases after his home run Sunday, May 29, in a 14-8 win over the Sioux Falls Canaries at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. . (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)

by Gabriel Lopez, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (10-6) beat the Sioux Falls Canaries (5-11) in commanding fashion on Sunday afternoon, 14-8.

On Jazz in the Park and Sunday Funday at Legends Field, the Monarchs’ red-hot offense continued their hitting parade.

They collected 16 hits with four home runs in the game. During the three-game series, the Monarchs collected 11 home runs, 51 hits and 51 runs in 27 innings of baseball.

The Canaries wasted no time as Trey Michalczewski hit a high fly ball down the left field line. Gaby Guerrero almost made the play, but the ball fell as Osvaldo Martinez and Jabari Henry scored, giving the Canaries a 2-0 lead.

The Monarchs responded right away. Willie Abreu and Guerrero both singled. David Thompson stepped up to the plate and hit a towering fly ball that dropped on the infield, scoring Abreu.

Jan Hernandez drove a three-run blast into the visitors’ bullpen, giving the Monarchs a 4-2 lead.

In the top of the third inning, Kona Quiggle hit a solo home run to bring the Canaries within one.

Then Matt Adams decided to get in on the action as he drove a two-run home run to right field, giving the Monarchs a 6-3 lead.

The Monarchs collected three more runs with Guerrero and Adams collecting RBIs. After four innings of baseball, the Monarchs led 9-3.

The Monarchs tacked on one more run as Pete Kozma followed Hernandez’ double with one of his own, scoring Hernandez and giving the Monarchs a 10-3 lead entering the sixth inning.

The Canaries’ offense woke up as Gavin LaValley and Trey Michalczewski knocked back-to-back singles. After Cole Pengilly worked a walk, Shamoy Christopher hit a bases-clearing double to bring the Canaries within four runs, 10-6.

The Monarchs continued to respond, adding more insurance runs in the sixth inning as Guerrero and Thompson drove in a run each.

Hernandez capped off the inning with a solo shot to left field, giving him his third home run in the past two games. The Monarchs headed into the seventh leading 13-6.

After Matt Blackham retired three Canaries in order, Willie Abreu hit a solo home run to left field to give the Monarchs a 14-6 lead heading into the eighth inning.

The Canaries brought two more runs across in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as Jameson McGrane retired Trey Michalczewski to end the game.

The Monarchs will continue their homestand with game one against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 7 p.m. Monday, May 30. 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.

Monarchs rout Canaries, 22-1

Jan Hernandez of the Kansas City Monarchs delivered a triple as part of his cycle Saturday night May 28, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas, against the Sioux Falls Canaries. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)

by Adam Cook, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (9-6) blew out the Sioux Falls Canaries (5-10) in the second game of the three-game weekend series Saturday night, 22-1.

After Monarchs starting pitcher Matt Hall kept the Canaries in the cage for the top of the first, Willie Abreu led the Monarchs’ offense with a bang as he sent the first pitch the Monarchs offense saw to the right field “Home Run Hill.”

Three batters later, Matt Adams sent a towering shot to the clubhouse past right field to bring in Gabby Guerrero and make the score 3-0. Little did anyone know, this was only the beginning to the Monarchs’ explosive night on offense.

The Canaries fired right back in the second, as Nick Gotta sliced an RBI double down the left field line to score Trey Michalczewski for what would become the Canaries’ only run of the game.

Hall then stranded the runners on the loaded bases and limited the damage, escaping the inning with only the one run allowed.

The Monarchs came back in the third with a flurry of base hits. Adams added to his night with a double to left-center and then moved station-to-station as David Thompson followed it up with a single that got Adams to third.

Jan Hernandez kept the line moving with a single to shallow right that scored Adams and moved Thompson across the infield to third base to bring the score to 4-1 Monarchs.

Casey Gillaspie capped the scoring in the big third inning with a double down the right field line that scored both Thompson and Hernandez, making the score 6-1 before giving the Canaries bats their next chance to bridge the gap.

Hall stayed on top of the Sioux Falls hitters in the top of the fourth, shutting them down in order for the second straight inning.

After the turn of the inning, the Monarchs continued putting up runs as they loaded the bases in the first three batters. Thompson led off the scoring with an RBI walk, only to be followed by a bases-clearing triple from Hernandez.

Gillaspie capped the scoring once again as he delivered an RBI single to right field to bring the score to 11-1 before the end of the inning.

In the top of the sixth, the Canaries put two runners on in Hall’s last inning of work, but Hall worked out of it, keeping the score 11-1 heading to the home half of the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, the Monarchs’ bats continued to deliver. Thompson crushed a no-doubt solo home run to left field for the only run in the inning, as the teams headed to the seventh with the score a lopsided 12-1 Monarchs.

The Monarchs only continued to pile on the runs in the seventh, as they loaded the bases in three batters for Guerrero, who made the Canaries pay with the Monarchs’ first grand slam of the year.

Thompson followed with a two-run bomb for his second two-home run game in his last four. A couple of base hits from Gillaspie and Pete Kozma netted one more run before the end of the inning, and the Monarchs left the inning with a massive 19-1 lead.

The Canaries were held at bay again in the top of the 8th, and just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Monarchs piled three more on in the bottom half, including a homer from Hernandez to complete the cycle.

The top of the ninth ended just like most of the other top halves in this one, as the Canaries were retired for the final time in four batters to make the final score 22-1.

The Monarchs will face the Sioux Falls Canaries in the final game of the series at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 29. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 2:30 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.

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