T-Bones fall to Goldeyes

On a sunny and windy Mother’s Day the Winnipeg Goldeyes beat the Kansas City T-Bones 7-4 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

The T-Bones continued a spring trend by grabbing the early lead in the first three innings for the fourth time in five exhibition games.

In the home half of the first, Omar Garcia led off with a walk off of Winnipeg starter Kevin McGovern. Garcia moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on fielder’s choice off the bat of Marcus Lemon. Kevin Keyes then singled to left to bring home Garcia for a 1-0 lead for Kansas City.

The lead lasted until the top of the second, when Shawn Pleffner hit a two-run homerun to left off of starter Gabe Perez to erase the T-Bones lead and make it 2-1 Goldeyes.

With a 21-mph south wind, both teams saw the gust make defense a challenge during the game. In the top of the third with the bases loaded, Reggie Abercrombie hit a high fly just on the edge of the grass at second base that was ruled an infield fly to retire Abercrombie.

T-Bones second baseman Brett Wiley had a tough time in the wind and could not make the play as it bounced away from him, allowing the Alixon Suarez to score from third and making it 3-1.

Kansas City got a run back in the home half of the fifth on a solo homerun from Daniel Rockett off Mikey O’Brien that cleared the “mini monster” in left and landed out into the parking lot to cut the lead to 3-2.

The T-Bones tied it in the sixth after Omar Garcia was hit by an O’Brien pitch and was followed by a single from Eddie Newton.

With runners at first and second, Garcia was caught stealing third, but Newton was able to reach second on the play. Kevin Keyes then followed by hustling out a shallow flare to center for a double, putting runners at second and third. Donald Lutz then hit a sac fly to left to tie the game at three.

The Goldeyes took the lead for good in the top of the seventh. Facing Kamakani Usui of Kansas City, Casio Grider reached on an error by T-Bones shortstop Eddie Newton.

Grider stole second and, a wild pitch moved him over to third. Devan Ahart bounced into a fielder’s choice at second to score Grider and give Winnipeg the lead once again. The Goldeyes took advantage of another T-Bones error to manufacture another run and held a 5-3 advantage into the eighth.

The visitors scored two more runs, highlighted by a double from Wes Darvill to make it 7-3 after eight.

The T-Bones got another run back in the bottom of the ninth. Chase McDonald singled off Ryan Chaffee and Brady Patrick hit a ground rule double to left center to put runners at second and third and one out. Joe Jackson knocked McDonald in from third on a fielder’s choice ground out to first, but the T-Bones could not get any closer than 7-4.

The T-Bones will play host to Winnipeg in the final exhibition game Monday at 7:05 at CommunityAmercia Ballpark. Tickets are available online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting in person the Providence Medical Center Box Office.

The T-Bones will open the 2017 regular season at home on May 19 against Lincoln.

– Story from T-Bones

T-Bones break it open late over the RailCats

The Kansas City T-Bones rode a solid pitching effort and timely key hits for a 5-1 win over the Gary SouthShore RailCats Thursday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

For the third night in a row, the pitching staff was solid, holding Gary to three hits and only one run—the second run allowed in 27 innings.

Unlike the last two nights where the offense scored in the first two innings, tonight it waited until the third inning to strike. The T-Bones were batting as the visiting team because of a pre-game arrangement between the two clubs in a spring training twist.

Leo Rojas led off the top of the third with a single off RailCats starter Drasen Johnson. Rojas moved to second on a wild pitch then to third on a ground out to second by Brett Wiley. Jordan Edgerton then lined a triple to center to score Rojas, and the score was 1-0.

Next, the T-Bones’ Omar Garcia drove in Edgerton with a sac fly to center, and the lead was now 2-0. The move to visiting team was made to allow for the proper number of pitchers to get work, and they did just that.

Darin Gorski got the starting nod, and he went two scoreless innings. He was followed by Jeff Walters who retired the first seven batters he faced with four strike outs. Combined, the duo would sit down nine straight RailCats batters at one point in the game.

Gary scratched out their only run of the series in the seventh off of Anthony Usui. The right hander from Hawaii found himself in a tight spot with runners at second and third and two outs, but he was able to deliver the big strike out of Ryan Fitzgerald, making the score 2-1.

The T-Bones’ Rich Mascheri and Cody Winiarski each worked a shut-out inning in the sixth and eighth inning.

Kansas City then broke it open in the top of the ninth, scoring four runs off SouthShore reliever Conrad Wozniak. Kevin Keyes hit a one-out double off the warning track in left center to set the inning up. Donald Lutz then reached base on a dropped third strike by catcher Jaime Del Valle, when he elected to throw to second to attempt to get Keyes out at second rather than throw Lutz out at first. Chase McDonald then singled to left field to drive in Keyes, but the ball got under left fielder Jackson Glines on the play, moving the runners to second and third.

The T-Bones then got back-to-back singles from Patrick Brady and Joe Jackson off Wozniak to extend the lead to 5-1 and to secure the win for Kansas City and take the second game of the two game series.

The T-Bones will travel to play the Lincoln Saltdogs in Waverly, Nebraska, on Friday and then come home to play host to Winnipeg in a pair of games. The two teams will play Sunday at 1:05 p.m. and Monday at 7:05 p.m. at CommunityAmercia Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas. Tickets are available online or by calling 913- 328-5618 or by visiting in person the Providence Medical Center Box Office.

The T-Bones will open the 2017 regular season at home on May 19 against Lincoln.

– Story from T-Bones

Five arms combine to shut out RailCats

Five Kansas City T-Bones pitchers combined to shut out the Gary SouthShore RailCats 6-0 in game two of the 2017 exhibition schedule Wednesday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

The T-Bones got all the runs they would need in the first inning when Omar Garcia and Marcus Lemon each singled off RailCats starter Tyler Harris. With Kevin Keyes at the plate, both runners were on the move, executing a perfect double steal.

Gary SouthShore Catcher Jaime Del Valle over threw third base, which allowed Garcia to race home, and the score was 1-0. Keyes then hit a deep fly to center to bring home Lemon who moved up to third on the errant throw by Del Valle.

In the third inning, the T-Bones loaded the bases off Harris. Then Joe Jackson delivered a bases-clearing double to left center field, hitting off the warning track and the 411 sign at CommunityAmerican Ballpark. With the T-Bones in business 5-0, it was the pitching staff that shined the entire night.

Kansas City starter Gabe Perez retired all six batters he faced in two innings of work, which included three strike outs. He was followed by lefty Mark McCoy who like wise retired the six men he faced, including a nine pitch fourth inning.

Luis Paula worked a pair of scoreless innings for Kansas City in the fifth and sixth innings and was followed by Myles Smith who allowed an infield single with a four strike outs in his two innings of work. The T-Bones then brought in Aaron Brooks who worked a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve the one hit shutout.

In one of the more interesting quirks of spring training baseball, the two clubs played the bottom of the ninth despite Kansas City leading at the time 5-0.

That decision benefitted the T-Bones as Jordan Edgerton took Laetten Galbraith deep to right field, hitting a solo homerun up on the grassy berm to make it 6-0 and to finish off the RailCats. The T-Bones have allowed just one run so far in the first two spring training games and have not allowed a run in the last 12 innings.

The T-Bones will once again host Gary SouthShore in the third game of the exhibition season Thursday night at 7:05 at CommunityAmercia Ballpark. Tickets are available online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting in person the Providence Medical Center Box Office.

The T-Bones will open the 2017 regular season at home on May 19 against Lincoln.

– Story from T-Bones