Category: Kansas City Monarchs

by Caleb Grizzle, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (8-6) won the series opener of a home three-game series against the Sioux Falls Canaries (5-9) in commanding fashion Friday night, 15-5.

Friday night’s contest started with back-to-back blasts over the left field fence for the Canaries. Osvaldo Martinez and Kona Quiggle put the Canaries up 2-0 with their solo home runs in the first inning.

The Canaries’ early momentum slowed for a moment with two groundouts to close the first frame. The Canaries added to their early lead in the top of the second inning with two one-out singles and an RBI triple from Wyatt Ulrich, pushing their lead to 4-0.

The Monarchs threatened early to respond to the Canaries’ offense with a deep center field warning track fly out from Gaby Guerrero in the bottom of the first. In the second inning, the Monarchs left two runners on base.

Jon Harris received the start for the Monarchs and recovered from the first two innings, holding the Canaries to one run the rest of his outing.

The Monarchs broke out of their scoreless start with a one-out triple from Willie Abreu in the third inning. Pete Kozma then flew out to bring Abreu home for the sacrifice fly RBI.

The Canaries extended their lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI double from Osvaldo Martinez.

The Monarchs had an explosive answer in the bottom of the fifth, starting with two walks and a single to load the bases with no outs. Abreu closed the gap, bouncing into a unassisted double play at first to cut the deficit to three runs.

Pete Kozma followed and came through in the clutch with a two-out RBI single to cut the lead to two. Guerrero tied it at 5-5 with a deep, fence-clearing blast to cap a game-changing half inning.

In the top half of the sixth, with two outs, the Monarchs called upon Jordan Martinson to provide relief on the mound and shut off any mounting Canaries’ momentum. Martinson carried the 5-5 tie into the bottom half of the sixth.

The Monarchs’ patience at the plate broke the tie in the home half of the seventh. The Monarchs manufactured two walks, a single and a hit by pitch to secure their first lead of the night, 6-5.

Casey Gillaspie followed the hit by pitch at bat with a sacrifice fly RBI. A wild throw brought in an extra run, bringing the score to 8-5.

In the eighth inning the Monarchs tacked on a plethora of insurance runs, stretching their lead to a comfortable 15-5. The Monarchs capped their dominant win with an acrobatic throw to first from J.C. Escarra.

The Monarchs will face the Sioux Falls Canaries in the second game of a three-=game series at 6 p.m. Saturday at Legends Field. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 5:30 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

Gary, Indiana – The Kansas City Monarchs (7-6) lost the final game of the four-game series against the Gary SouthShore RailCats (5-8) Thursday night, 4-3.

In the top of the first inning, Darnell Sweeney reached base after third baseman Thomas Walraven made a fielding error. Sweeney used his speed to take second base.

After Gaby Guerrero walked, Sweeney snatched third base. He was able to score with ease after Leif Strom delivered a wild pitch to Jackson Smith.

With Guerrero on second, David Thompson stepped up and hammered a triple to center field, scoring Guerrero and giving the Monarchs an early 2-0 lead.

It didn’t take very long for the RailCats to respond. Jackson Smith started the second inning with a single to left field. In his first game with the RailCats, Sam Abbott came to the plate and hammered a home run to tie the game, 2-2.

The RailCats were able to load the bases with two outs, but Lewis Thorpe struck out Michael Woodworth to end the inning.

The score remained tied at two apiece until the sixth inning. Smith continued his hitting spree as he laced a leadoff triple and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Alec Olund, giving the RailCats a 3-2 lead.

The Monarchs kept fighting back. On a ball hit to second, Gaby Guerrero hustled out of the box and beat the throw to first by inches, scoring Willie Abreu.

Matt Blackham entered the game in the bottom of the seventh. In his inning of work, he struck out the side and allowed no runs as the score remained tied, 3-3.

In the eighth inning, Daniel Lingua drove a double to right-center field to score Thomas Walraven. Entering the ninth inning, the RailCats led 4-3.

The Monarchs still continued to fight. In the top of the ninth inning, Darrell Sweeney walked. He stole second base, which gave him his fifth stolen base of the night, tying an American Association record.

After a Matt Adams walk, runners were at first and second with two outs. David Thompson stepped up and hit a ball with spin to shortstop, but Daniel Lingua made a great play and threw him out at first, ending the game 4-3.

The Monarchs walked 11 times, but only gathered three hits on the night. A main reason for the offensive struggles was due to RailCats starting pitcher, Leif Strom. He struck out eight hitters and allowed two earned runs in six innings of work.

The Monarchs will face the Sioux Falls Canaries in the first game of three at 7 p.m. Friday night, May 27, 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 aabaseball.tv.

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

by Caleb Grizzle, Monarchs

Gary, Indiana — The Kansas City Monarchs (7-5) won game three of a four series against the Gary SouthShore RailCats (4-8) at U.S. Steel Yard, 6-4 Thursday night.

A 49-minute rain delay produced a sluggish start for both clubs in the first two innings, as each team left runners on base and exchanged unearned runs after a combined four errors in the first two frames.

Casey Gillaspie brought in David Thompson with an RBI single to tie the game in the top of the second to erase the early 1-0 deficit.

David Thompson had a masterful night at the plate for the Monarchs. The KC third sacker led off the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run over the left field fence off RailCats starter Harrison Francis to take a 2-1 lead. The Monarchs tacked on another run to close the fourth on a sacrifice fly by J.C. Escarra, 3-1.

Thompson followed with a massive shot over the left field fence in the fifth inning for his second solo home run of the night once again off Francis, pushing the Monarchs lead to 4-1.

Akeem Bostick received the start and was in control on the mound. Bostick pitched six strong innings, allowing only one earned run, four hits and dealing six strikeouts. The first through the fourth inning was Bostick’s most dominant stretch, retiring 10 consecutive RailCats at the plate.

However, the RailCats rallied back into the game with a run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 4-2. Bostick departed the game in the seventh and the Monarchs turned to right-hander Brock Gilliam.

With one out, the RailCats loaded the bases off Gilliam. The pen was summoned again with lefty Jacob Lindgren coming into the game. Lindgren hit M.J. Rookard with a pitch to bring in one run.

The RailCats then got a fielder’s choice off the bat of Michael Woodworth, who beat out a double play ball to tie the game at four.

Carlos Vega of the RailCats brought the Monarchs’ offense to a screeching halt, striking out seven batters in only three innings pitched.

The Monarchs’ bullpen carried the game into extra innings, shutting down any hopes of a walk-off finish in the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts from Brandon Koch (1-0).

The teams went to extra innings the first of the season for both clubs. The American Association new extra inning rules went into effect with Darnell Sweeney, the last out of the ninth, starting the top of the tenth at second base.

Gabby Guerrero moved Sweeney to third on a fielder’s choice for out number one. Matt Adams fielder’s choice scored Sweeney from third as the RailCats could not make the play at the plate in time.

The Monarchs added to the lead with Pete Kozma, driving in the insurance run with a single to right to take a two-run lead.

Jameson McGrane slammed the door shut on the RailCats in the bottom of the tenth with three strikeouts to notch his second save, bringing an end to a long night at U.S. Steel Yard with a final score of 6-4.

The Monarchs will face the RailCats in the final game of the four-game series at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, May 26. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:20 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.