Category: Sports

Sporting KC takes on Manchester City Wednesday

The defending MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City will play host to the defending English Premier League champions Manchester City at 8 p.m. Wednesday night at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

The match will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes with radio coverage in Kansas City on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Gran D 1340. A limited number of tickets may still remain for Wednesday’s match and may be available at Ticketmaster.com.

The international friendly will consist of two 45-minute halves. If the match is tied at the conclusion of regulation, the two teams will go directly to a penalty kick shootout. The winner of Wednesday’s friendly will take home the Champions Shield.

Sporting KC hoisted the MLS Cup on Dec. 7 defeating Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park. At the end of regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods, the match was tied 1-1 before eventually being decided by the longest penalty kick shootout in MLS history. Sporting KC defender Aurelien Collin was named MLS Cup MVP for his equalizer in regulation and game-winning penalty kick.

Sporting KC currently sits atop the Eastern Conference with 32 points and a 10-5-5 record that includes five victories in the club’s last six MLS matches. Midfielders Benny Feilhaber and Lawrence Olum each netted a goal in Sporting KC’s 2-1 victory last Saturday over the LA Galaxy. Feilhaber’s goal was his second in as many matches earning him MLS Player of the Week honors for Week 19.

Manchester City enters the midweek match as part of a preseason tour in the United States to prepare for the 2014-15 English Premier League season.

Sporting Kansas City will be the first of Manchester City’s four scheduled matches in the United States. The marquee match between reigning champions is part of Summer in the Soccer Capital, presented by the Sprint Framily Plan. Following the match against Sporting KC, Manchester City will participate in the inaugural International Champions Cup against Liverpool FC, Olympiacos and AC Milan.

Manchester City finished the 2013-14 season in first place, winning their final match of the season against West Ham United to clinch the Premier League title.

Under first year manager Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City finished with a 27-5-6 record and scored a club record 102 goals. The league title was Manchester City’s second in the previous three seasons. Manchester City also hoisted the Capital One Cup earlier this year and advanced out of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

– Story from Sporting KC

T-Bones with a true walk-off win

David Espinosa drew a bases loaded walk that gave the T-Bones a 7-6 win over Grand Prairie in 10 innings Tuesday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

In the 10th, with runners at the corners, the AirHogs intentionally walked T.J. Mittelstaedt to get to Espinosa, who drew a four-pitch walk that brought home Vladimir Frias for the win.

The T-Bones, who had trailed since the top of the fourth inning, were down 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth when Robby Kuzdale slid into third with an RBI triple that cut the deficit to two. Mittelstaedt then crushed a two-run home run, tying the game at 6-6.

Kuzdale gave the T-Bones an early lead in the second inning. With the bases loaded, he singled up the middle, extending his hitting streak to 12 games and bringing in one run. Mittelstaedt then drew a bases loaded walk for a quick 2-0 lead.

The AirHogs answered in the top of the third with two runs off two hits and two T-Bones errors. Jimmy Mojica and Alex Nunez both ripped back-to-back singles.

Frias reached base five times with three singles and two walks. Kuzdale, who was a home run short of the cycle, went three-for-five with two RBIs. Kris Regas got his sixth win on the year with a scoreless 2 1/3 innings and five strikeouts.

The T-Bones (31-34) will try to take the series against the AirHogs (27-35) Wednesday night at 7:05. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178020
– Story from T-Bones

T-Bones welcome 3 millionth fan

With temperatures in the mid-90s, it may have been the hottest night of the year but that didn’t stop Craig Swisher from taking his son and daughter to watch the Kansas City T-Bones at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan., on Monday night.

Little did Swisher know he would be welcomed with open arms by the T-Bones staff, as he was the 3 millionth fan to see a T-Bones game at CommunityAmerica Ballpark — a feat that took only 12 years to accomplish.

“I was stunned; I knew it was significant but I didn’t realize how significant it was at the time,” said Swisher, of Gladstone, Mo., who said he attends two to three games each year.

Even with a major-league franchise like the Kansas City Royals across the state line, the T-Bones continue to post astonishing attendance numbers. The club is on pace in 2014 to draw more than 260,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season.

“Congratulations to the T-Bones on this remarkable milestone,” said Mayor Mark Holland. “The short timeframe that it took to reach this attendance number is a testimony to the quality product and fan experience the T-Bones constantly deliver. It’s a fun, family friendly event that everyone can enjoy.”

Going into Monday night, the T-Bones had an American Association best 173,401 fans in 2014, with the next closest being Winnipeg with 146,488. For Kansas City that averages to 5,419 fans each game, which is second-best in the league. Winnipeg has averaged 5,425 in 2014.

Swisher will be rewarded for achieving Kansas City’s monumental milestone with a prize pack that includes four T-Bones season tickets for life; an autographed, game-used base from CommunityAmerica Ballpark; a baseball autographed by T-Bones coach and Royals Hall of Fame player Frank White; $300 toward a savings account from CommunityAmerica Credit Union; a $100 gift card from Cabela’s; a gift certificate from Danny’s Bar & Grill; a phone from Verizon; a night’s stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kansas City, Kan.; among other prizes.

“It’s incredible,” Swisher said, “and I’m so appreciative.”
– Story from T-Bones