Category: T-Bones

The Lincoln Saltdogs got a home run in the seventh inning Wednesday night, and held on to beat Kansas City, 3-2, at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Luis Alen punched a solo home run against Kansas City reliever Johnny Shuttlesworth, giving the Saltdogs a 3-2 lead.

Lincoln had a chance to add to that lead later in the inning. With one out Rene Leveret walked and stole second base, his fifth of the season. That put a runner in scoring position for Austin Darby. Shuttlesworth (2-4) forced him to ground out and end the threat. Alen finished 3 for 4 with one run scored and brought home all three Saltdogs’ runs.

In the fifth inning, T-Bones starter Jordan Cooper retired the first two batters of the inning. He walked Connor Teykl, and Robby Kuzdale followed with a double putting runners on second and third with two outs.

Alen lined a ball into centerfield, scoring Teykl and Kuzdale giving Lincoln the 2-0 lead through five. Those were the only two runs surrendered by Cooper in an otherwise efficient day. He allowed six hits, two runs, walked one and struck out five in 6 innings.

The T-Bones answered almost immediately against Saltdogs starter Ryan O’Sullivan. Dalton Wheat led off the sixth with a single before Tyson Gillies hit an opposite field home run to left, and tied the game at 2-2. Those were the only two runs, and two of the three hits O’Sullivan surrendered in 6 innings.

Lincoln’s’ bullpen shut the T-Bones down in the final three frames, though. Jeff McKenzie (3-3), who relieved O’Sullivan, allowed hits to Nate Tenbrink and Wheat in the eighth. After Wheat swiped second in the eighth, his first professional stolen base, Clayton Cook took over for McKenzie.

Cook’s appearance was short-lived but effective. The only batter he faced was Starlin Rodriguez and Cook struck out Rodriguez, stranding Wheat on second. A one-run lead is all that the All-Star Evan Reed would need. Reed (14) shut the door on the T-Bones with three quick outs.

Kansas City (26-32) concludes the three-game series with Lincoln (33-24) Thursday at 6:35 p.m. All of the action can be heard at TBonesBaseball.com.

– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones

Brett Wiley launched his fifth home run of the season in the top of the ninth and Mark Haynes shut the door, as Kansas City beat Lincoln, 5-4, on Tuesday night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.

The T-Bones led from the top of the first inning until the bottom of the eighth. That’s when former T-Bones outfielder Robby Kuzdale led off with a single, his second hit of the night.

After Connor Teykl flied out to center field and reliever Evan DeLuca walked Brandon Jacobs, Rene Leveret knocked in Kuzdale with a base hit, cutting Kansas City’s lead to 3-2. Jacobs and Leveret advanced on a throwing error by Vladimir Frias, putting them on second and third.

Luis Alen then grounded a ball to Nate Tenbrink, who threw home but his bad throw allowed Jacobs to score and tie the game at 3-3. DeLuca (2-1) retired the final two batters, leaving two runners in scoring position.

With one out and the game tied at 3 in the top of the ninth, Wiley sent Brad Orosey’s (2-2) pitch over the right field wall, giving the T-Bones a 4-3 lead. Wiley finished with a 4-for-5 night, with three RBIs and two runs scored. He was a triple shy of the cycle.

Haynes (12) came in for Kansas City in the ninth and retired the Saltdogs in order, including the final out, a three-pitch strikeout of Haynes’ former teammate, Kuzdale.

Kansas City jumped on Lincoln and former T-Bones pitcher Casey Barnes early. After Tyson Gillies sent the first pitch of the game to the warning track in right field for a lead-off double, Wiley brought him home with a single.

Then, with two outs, Tyler Massey slapped a base hit that scored Wiley and gave the T-Bones a 2-0 lead. Kansas City added a run in the fifth, when Tenbrink scored on a hit by Wiley. Barnes allowed 10 hits, three runs and walked one in 6 2/3 innings.

T-Bones starter Mike Kickham struggled early, giving up four hits in the first two innings. Jon Smith led off the second with a double, and then went to third on a wild pitch to Tyler Urps.

With a 2-2 count, Urps was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Austin Darby scored Smith with a sacrifice to center, but that was the only run Kickham allowed. He went 7 innings, giving up four hits, three walks and one run, while striking out five. At one point, he retired 15 straight Saltdog hitters.

Kansas City (26-31) continues the three-game series with Lincoln (32-24) at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday. All of the action can be heard online at TBonesBaseball.com.

– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones

Kansas City scored seven late runs but couldn’t hold the lead in the ninth, losing 9-8 on a walk-off home run in the 12th to Joplin on Sunday night at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Mo.

The T-Bones trailed from the bottom of the first inning until the top of the ninth. In the ninth, trailing 7-4 after scoring two in the seventh and one in the eighth, the bottom-third of the Kansas City lineup would have to get things going against Joplin reliever Victor Capellan, who had given up only four runs in 29 innings (0.93 ERA).

The first four batters reached against Capellan, with Brett Wiley walking, Steve Swingle singling, and pinch-hitter Dalton Wheat walking. With the bases loaded, Tyson Gillies, who led off the game with a home run, roped a bases-clearing triple to right that tied the game at 7-7. Starlin Rodriguez then tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Gillies and gave Kansas City its first lead of the night. The lead was short-lived, however.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, T-Bones closer Mark Haynes gave up a single to KC Huth. After inducing a fly out by Sean Smith for the second out, Haynes had the next two batters, Mitch Glasser and Geraldo Valentin, down to their final strikes. Each batter singled, with Valentin’s scoring Huth on a close play at the plate. On the play, Glasser got too far off third, though, and was thrown out by catcher Swingle.

The T-Bones had a chance to score in the top of the 10th after Wiley tripled with one out. But he was stranded there as Swingle lined out and Wheat grounded out, ending the inning.

The Blasters broke through in the bottom of the 12th against Aaron Baker. After Glasser grounded out to Baker, Valentin hit a walk-off home run. Baker (2-3) is now 1-2 on this 10-game road trip.

After Kansas City took a quick 1-0 lead in the first on Gillies’ homer, the Blasters tagged T-Bones starter Jared Messer for three runs in the bottom of the inning with one swing of the bat. With Sean Smith (single) and Valentin (walk) on base, Charlie Valerio hit his sixth home run of the season, giving the Blasters a 3-1 lead. Joplin, which added two more in the fourth and one in both the fifth and sixth innings, wouldn’t relinquish the lead until the ninth.

Joplin won two of the three games in the series, marking the first series loss for Kansas City since being swept by Fargo-Moorhead, June 24-27, at CommunityAmerica Ballpark — a span of five series. Since that series against the RedHawks, the T-Bones won four consecutive series before splitting their four-game series at Laredo last week.

Kansas City (25-31) will have Monday off before traveling to Lincoln for a three-game series beginning Tuesday night. All of the action can be heard online at TBonesBaseball.com.

– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones