Category: Kansas City Monarchs

Monarchs drop heartbreaker, 11-9

The Monarchs couldn’t hold a seven-run lead against Milwaukee on Thursday night, as the Milkmen smacked a walk-off home run off Carlos Diaz in the ninth to win 11-9.

The home run was Adam Brett Walker II’s third of the game.

Following an offensive explosion Wednesday night with 20 runs, the Monarchs (20-13) picked up where they left off in Game 4.

In the top of the first, Gillaspie rocked his 10th home run of the season with Ryan Grotjohn and Gabby Guerrero on base. Gillaspie, who’s now homered in four of his last five games, became the first Monarch to reach double digits in homers.

With questions still surrounding the rotation, manager Joe Calfapietra handed the ball to Jameson McGrane for his third start of the season. McGrane, however, was charged with a run in the home half of the first on a wild pitch. It was the first run McGrane has allowed since June 2 vs. Sioux Falls.

In the top of the fourth, Kansas City thought it put the game out of reach with the help of some blunders in the field from the Milkmen (21-13). The Monarchs plated two runs on a fielding error and a hit by pitch — which chased Milwaukee starter Ryan Zimmerman from the game.

With a 5-1 lead and the bases loaded, Gillaspie came up big with a bases-clearing double to make it 8-1. The double gave Gillaspie a season-high six RBIs .

After McGrane tossed four innings of one-run ball, Calfapietra handed the ball to Jose Taveras to bridge the gap to the final three innings. However, Taveras was tagged for three runs in two innings of work — cutting the lead to 8-4.

Fortunately for Kansas City, the offense added an insurance run in the top of the eighth on an RBI-single from Darnell Sweeney.

The game nearly spiraled out of control in the bottom half of the eighth. After Elroy Urbina held down the Milwaukee bats in the seventh, Jacob Lindgren came on in relief to maintain the
five-run cushion.

Lindgren, though, was knocked around for four runs (three earned) — forcing Carlos Diaz to enter for a four-out save. The hard-throwing closer struck out former teammate Anibal Sierra for the final out of the eighth, keeping the 9-8 lead intact.

In the bottom of the ninth, Diaz was squared up. Before he could record an out, the Milkmen tallied back-to-back hits to put runners at first and third. Moments later, Brett Walker II scalded a three-run, walk-off homer to beat Kansas City 11-9.

The Monarchs will head to Lincoln to take on the Saltdogs for a three-game series beginning on Friday. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:40 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 from Jack Johnson, Monarchs

Monarchs pound Milwaukee with 20 runs

There were only two innings Wednesday when the Kansas City Monarchs didn’t score, and nine KC players got hits as the Monarchs won 20-5 on the road against the Milwaukee Milkmen.

Kansas City (18-12) has not lost a series against a North Division opponent all year, and they tried to keep that streak alive against the Milwaukee Milkmen (20-12) in game three of their four-game series Wednesday night.

The Monarchs got things going right away in the top of the first inning; it only took 10 pitches for them to strike first.

Darnell Sweeney worked an eight-pitch walk in the game’s lead-off at-bat. Two pitches later, it was spark plug Ryan Grotjohn who drove Sweeney in after driving one to deep center field for a triple. Kansas City finished the inning up 2-0.

As the game went on, things did not get any easier for Milwaukee’s ace. Myles Smith was able to keep the Monarchs off the bases in both the second and third innings, but the offense came alive again in the fourth when Colin Willis clubbed his fifth homer of the season. Charcer Burks had a front row-view of his teammate’s homer from third base after his triple.

The defending league champions did not go away without a fight, though. They responded with their first run in the bottom half of the fourth.

The Milkmen ended their drought after a lead-off home run from Christian Correa, making the score 4-1.

Jake Matthys, the winning pitcher, settled in on the mound after that and retired the next three batters to finish the inning.

Kansas City hit another long shot into the trees beyond the outfield fence. This time around, it was Casey Gillaspie. The first baseman has homered in all of the last three series.

The Monarchs continued their success at the plate in the sixth when they tallied three hits, three walks, and three runs. The Milkmen then scored four runsin the bottom of the inning off two home runs by Brett Walker II and Christ Conley (9-5).

The Monarchs grew familiar with timely hitting as the game progressed. Gabby Guerrero delivered one in the seventh with the bases loaded. His single up the middle brought in Sweeney and Olmeda (11-5).

Matthys exited the game in seventh, handing the ball to left-handed reliever Elroy Urbina. The reliever held the Milkmen right where they stood. Urbina faced five batters, walking one, striking out one, and only allowing one hit.

Fellow left-handed pitcher Eric Cha was next out of the bullpen for the Monarchs, and he followed suit. The middle infield turned a double-play behind Cha, and then he retired Anibal Sierra – a former Monarch – to end the inning. Ramsey Romano came into the game to finish it off, going three up, three down.

In the 20-5 road victory, the Monarchs set a season high for hits (23) and runs.

A box score for the game is at http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=553217.

The series finale will take place Thursday evening with the first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. in Milwaukee at Franklin Field. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:10 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 from Jaxson Webb, Monarchs

Travieso continues dominance in Monarchs win at Milwaukee

On the back of a strong outing from Nick Travieso, the Monarchs evened the series against the Milwaukee Milkmen on Tuesday night by a score of 3-0.

It was Kansas City’s first win over the Milkmen this season.

The Monarchs (18-12) pounced on Milwaukee starter Matt Solter early in the game. In the top of the first, Gabby Guerrero ripped an RBI-single to center field — scoring Darnell Sweeney.

With his team scoring first, Travieso (3-4) cruised through the first two innings with ease.

In the top of the third, the Monarchs jumped on Solter (0-3), again.

After a double steal put runners in scoring position, Kansas City added its second run on a wild pitch.

With a 2-0 lead, Travieso continued his dominance against the Milkmen. The right-handed pitcher completed six scoreless innings and struck out five.

The outing added to Travieso’s impressive stretch of strong starts, as he’s allowed just two runs in his last 18 innings of work (1.00 ERA).

Despite the offense’s struggles, the pitching held down Milwaukee (20-12) after Travieso’s departure. Left-hander Jacob Lindgren entered in the seventh inning and worked around a walk and a single. Brian Ellington followed Lindgren and tossed a scoreless frame with two strikeouts.

In the top of the ninth, Kansas City added some insurance for the first time since the third inning. After Charcer Burks tripled to lead off the inning, Alexis Olmeda hit an RBI-single to right field to make it 3-0.

Carlos Diaz, who had allowed one run coming into the night, slammed the door in the ninth for his fifth save of the season.


Wednesday, the Monarchs will take on Milwaukee for Game 3 of their four-game series with the Milkmen. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. in Milwaukee. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:10 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.