Category: Kansas City Monarchs

by Dan Vaughan Jr., Monarchs

Lincoln, Nebraska —Matt Hall took the ball for the Kansas City Monarchs (1-0) in game one of the West Division Series Wednesday and showed why he was named the starting pitcher on the American Association Post Season All-Star team.

Hall (1-0) tossed seven innings of one-hit shutout baseball as the Monarchs beat the Lincoln Saltdogs (0-1) 5-2 Wednesday night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln.

With the win the Monarchs need one more win in the best of three-game series to move on to the West Division Championship Series.

The Monarchs got on the board in the first inning with two outs on a solo home run from Ryan Grotjohn off Lincoln ace Greg Minier for a 1-0 lead. From there Minier (0-1) scattered four hits until the seventh.

The Saltdogs got a lead-off single from Justin Byrd to start the game, but that was the only hit Hall allowed the rest of the way. After a two-out walk in the third inning, Hall retired the next 13 batters and left the game after seven. The left-hander struck out eight in seven innings.

In the seventh the Monarchs finally got to Minier. With one out, Jan Hernandez and Casey Gillaspie drew walks. Gio Brusa hit a smash to the keystone corner that turned into an infield single to load the way stations for Kansas City.

Pete Kozma hit another smash to third that ricocheted into foul territory and down the left field line for a double to score two runs. With runners at second and third Lincoln went to right-hander Matt Cronin to take over for Minier.

The Monarchs picked up a run on a passed ball on Skyler Weber and their fifth run on an RBI single from Mallex Smith to give the Monarchs a 5-0 cushion.

Brian Glowicki worked around two base runners in the top of the eighth inning to keep the game 5-0. Jameson McGrane came into the game in the bottom of the ninth. The right-hander allowed a lead-off single to Justin Byrd, but struck out Rayder Ascanio for out number one. The Saltdogs loaded the bases on a single from Ryan Long and walk for Jason Rogers. Former Sioux City Explorer Nate Samson knocked in two runs on a single to right to cut the lead to 5-2.

The Monarchs went to the pen and brought Alex Valdez into the game with the tying run at the plate. Valdez struck out Josh Altman and got a ground ball to short from Wellington Dotel to force out Sampson at second, preserve the win and pick up his first save of the post season.

The Monarchs will be off on Thursday as the series shifts to Kansas City, Kansas.

Kansas City was the only team of the four road teams to win its first-round game Wednesday night. The win was the 39th win in franchise history in the post season.

The Monarchs will play the second game of the playoff series against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs playoff games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

The Kansas City Monarchs loaded their bus to Lincoln Tuesday to begin their Division Playoff series with newly named American Association Post Season All-Star starting pitcher Matt Hall.

It was the second award in two weeks for Hall, as he was named the Rawlings Pitcher of the Month last week by the American Association.

The Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native went 10-2 this season for the Monarchs in 14 starts with a 1.09 ERA in 82 innings. Hall notched 113 team-leading strikeouts and finished the year with five straight wins for Kansas City.

Hall, who also serves as the pitching coach for the club, yielded 10 earned runs and posted the lowest ERA for a single season in franchise history as well as the lowest opponents average against at .197.

The left-hander had an outstanding August, going 5-0 for the month in five starts, tossing five-of-six quality starts and going at least five innings in all of his starting nods. Hall threw 31 innings, giving up just three earned runs with 48 strikeouts. He had three games with at least 10 strikeouts and one on Aug. 20 in Lincoln, where he punched out 12.

Hall was named the Pointstreak Pitcher of the Week the first time this season for the week ending May 22 after making two starts and surrendering just one earned run in 11 innings with 12 strikeouts. Hall followed with three consecutive starts and with three consecutive wins, and he had his contract transferred to the San Francisco Giants on June 12.

Hall returned to the Monarchs on July 14 and allowed just three earned runs in 37 innings with 48 strikeouts while notching six quality starts in seven outings through Aug. 14. He was named the Pitcher of the Week for second time this season for the week ending Aug. 14. Hall went 2-0 for the week and tossed 14 scoreless innings, scattering five hits with 18 strikeouts.

Hailing from Lee’s Summit, Hall attended Lee’s Summit West High School and played collegiately at Missouri State University, where he was a sixth-round draft pick in the 2015 draft by the Detroit Tigers. Hall had his contract purchased on Sept. 11, 2018, and made his Major League debut on Sept. 15, 2018. He was traded after the 2018 season to Boston and appeared in four games for the Red Sox.

This season under Hall’s watch as pitching coach, the Monarchs had the lowest team ERA (4.40) in the league and set a franchise and American Association record for strikeouts (967) in a season.

The Monarchs will play the first game of the playoff series against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 pm and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs games including any possible playoff games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

• Story from Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs have announced the game dates and times for the American Association playoffs after an exciting final day of the regular season on Labor Day, Monday.

The Monarchs clinched a playoff spot on Aug. 20 but did not know their final seed until completing an 8-5 win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Legends Field Monday.

The Kansas City American Association franchise will make a fourth straight playoff appearance beginning at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska, against the Lincoln Saltdogs.

The best-of-three Division Series will shift to Kansas City on Friday, Sept. 9, with a first pitch of 6:30 p.m. at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. If necessary, a game three would be played at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.

The match features the two hottest teams in the American Association. The Saltdogs come into the post season on a roll, needing to win their last three games at Sioux City to claim the final playoff spot in the American Association.

Lincoln closed the season going 8-2. Kansas City also dropped the first game of a four-game series over the Labor Day weekend then roared back to win the last three to overtake Fargo-Moorhead on the season’s final day, grabbing the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

The Monarchs finished going 9-1 over their last 10 games, including a perfect 6-0 road trip.

The Monarchs finished with the best record in the American Association at 65-35 while Lincoln went 49-51 in 2022. The two teams met 12 times this season with the Monarchs holding a 9-3 advantage with a 4-2 record at Lincoln.

The Monarchs will play the first game of the playoff series against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 pm and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs playoff games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

• Story from Monarchs