Category: Kansas City Monarchs

The Southern Division-leading Kansas City Monarchs (59-28) had their August roll slowed by the rains in the western suburbs of the Chicago area Tuesday night at Northwestern Medicine Field against the Kane County Cougars (39-47).

The Cougars led the game 2-0 after two innings when the skies opened, and despite the field being covered, the rains in the area would not slow enough to resume the game.

The two teams will resume the game Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. and play the game to completion, beginning in the third inning.

Game two will follow and will be a seven-inning contest. The games can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 3 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

The Monarchs magic number to clinch the Southern Division of the American Association remains at two. The Monarchs will send out left-handed pitcher Matt Hall in game one Wednesday then turn to a bullpen day in the opener; they expect to send out right-handed pitcher and Pointstreak Pitcher of the Week Justin Donatella in the second game.

The Monarchs return home Friday night to Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas, to face the Houston Apollos in the final homestand of the season in the first game of a three-game weekend series.

Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com. The Monarchs are currently selling tickets for post-season games.

• Story from Dan Vaughan Jr.

After taking the first two games of the series against Milwaukee, the Monarchs saved their best game for last as Morgan McCullough smacked a walk-off double to win 4-3 Sunday and sweep the Milkmen.

Coming into the day, the Milkmen remained atop the American Association in team ERA. However, through the first two games, the pitching wasn’t as advertised.

It was a different story on Sunday, though. David Holmberg, who was fourth on the team in starts, worked quick and efficiently against the Monarchs’ lineup. The left-hander opened his outing with four shutout innings and allowed just two hits.

His counterpart, Jake Matthys, was just as strong. After being pulled from his previous start with an apparent arm injury, Matthys returned to the mound with no signs of a setback. It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that Milwaukee (51-35) got to the right-hander on a solo shot by Adam Brett Walker II — breaking the scoreless tie.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kansas City (59-28) tied the game on a two-out, RBI-single from Alexis Olmeda.

The wheels began falling off for Matthys in the top of the seventh. The 27-year-old was pulled with one out in the frame after allowing the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. Brock Gilliam entered in relief and escaped a potential disaster.

The Monarchs came back in the bottom half of the inning. Olmeda, for the second time in the game, poked a game-tying, RBI-single to the outfield. The single gave Olmeda his first multi-hit game at Legends Field since June 12 against Houston.

The back-and-forth action ensued when the Milkmen came to the plate in the eighth. Using a small ball approach, Milwaukee re-took the lead on an RBI-single by Logan Trowbridge. Kansas City loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but came up empty on a strikeout and groundout to end the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kansas City came through off one of the top closers in the league — Nate Hadley. After a pair of singles from Colin Willis and Kevin Santa, McCullough roped a walk-off, RBI-double off the wall in center field.

Kansas City has an off-day Monday before beginning a three-game set at Kane County on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. 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 aabaseball.tv.

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

• Story by Jack Johnson

The Southern Division-leading Kansas City Monarchs (58-28) won game number two of the three game series 5-4 against Milwaukee Milkmen (51-34) Saturday in front of a crowd of over 4,200 on KU fan night.

Kansas City’s Ibandel Isabel got the runs rolling early in the second inning with a two-run home run deep to left field, starting the evening with the lead, 2-0.

Right-handed pitcher Keyvius Sampson kept the Milkmen off the bases through the first two innings, facing six batters with two strikeouts.

Milwaukee fired back in the fourth with an RBI single from Mikey Reynolds, making the score 2-1. The Milkmen kept the offense firing in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Aaron Hill and another off the bat of Cole Sturgeon, taking away the Monarchs lead at 3-2.

The Monarchs struck back offensively as Will Kengor and Daniel Wasinger both walked, later scoring off a Charcer Burks fly to right field that Milwaukee outfielder Mikey Reynolds dropped for a two-base error, taking back the lead, 4-3.

Christian Correa made sure Kansas City didn’t keep the lead at the top of the sixth with a home run just staying fair down the left field line, tying the game at 4-4.

The seventh inning was a quiet one as Milwaukee’s right-handed pitcher Kyle Boyer shut out the Monarchs with three straight strikeouts, but in the eighth, Darnell Sweeney’s swinging paid off as he launched a ball out to right field on the home run hill, giving the Monarchs the winning run, ending with a 5-4 win.

Jameson McGrane picked up his 4th save working the ninth while Jeremy Rhodes notched the relief win for Kansas City.

The Kansas City Monarchs will look to clinch the series against the Milwaukee Milkmen at 1 p.m. Sunday at Legends Field. 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 to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

• by Kaitlyn Sanders, Monarchs