Category: T-Bones

The Kansas City T-Bones snapped up a win in the first game of the best-of-five American Association Championship Series on Tuesday night in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The T-Bones defeated the Saints 11-4. The victory was powered by two separate two-run home runs from former St. Paul Saint Noah Perio Jr., a solo home run by Adrian Nieto and 20 hits on the night.

Saints starting pitcher Chris Nunn (8-3, 2.69) had a rough first inning. Ryan Brett led off the game with a double down the left field line. Just three batters later, Perio Jr. smashed a two-run home run to give the T-Bones a 2-0 lead.

Kansas City continued the assault in the second. Three singles and a double kept the line moving and kept the runs coming.

Alay Lago hit a lead-off single to right, followed by a Keith Curcio strikeout. Anthony Phillips then singled to left and Danny Hayes struck out. Ryan Brett singled to nearly the same spot in left field, which drove home Lago. Mason Davis then singled down the right field line to score Brett and Phillips. Todd Cunningham struck out to end the inning, but the T-Bones had a significant 5-0 lead over the Saints.

In the bottom of the second, the Saints put their mark on the board. Dan Motl walked, stole second, and came home on an infield single by Joey Wong.

In the third, Lago singled, moved up to third on a Curcio single, then scored the sixth run of the game for the T-Bones as Phillips reached on a two-out error by the third baseman.

Matt Solter (3-5, 4.72) came in to relieve Chris Nunn in the fourth. Davis reached after being hit by a pitch. With Cunningham up to bat, Davis moved to second on an error by the catcher. Cunningham then hit into a fielder’s choice, but an error by the first baseman allowed Davis to score.

The sixth inning saw the T-Bones break it wide open. Cunningham doubled, then Perio Jr. crushed his second two-run home run of the night to make it 9-1 Kansas City. Nieto followed with a double to left center and was brought home by a Lago single, giving the T-Bones a massive 10-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kevin Hill (1-1, 4.13) came in for relief of T-Bones starter Barrett Astin. Hill hit the first batter, Justin O’Conner, putting him on base. He moved up to second on a single by Motl, then scored on an RBI single by Wong to make it 10-2 KC. A fielder’s choice by Kyle Barrett later brought home Motl for the Saints’ third run of the game.

A solo home run by Nieto in the top of the eighth made it 11-3 T-Bones.

Adam Bleday (2-1, 4.88) worked the eighth for the T-Bones, retiring the inning 1-2-3. Kansas City threatened by loading the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth but weren’t able to bring anyone home.

Bleday continued into the ninth, walking lead-off batter Motl and the next two batters. Motl was then brought home on a sacrifice fly to left by Barrett. But the T-Bones were able to hold the Saints from anything else and went on to win it with a final of 11-4.

Kansas City plays the second game of the series at St. Paul at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday in St. Paul.

They will be off Thursday to travel back to KC and home at 7:05 p.m. Friday evening the best-of-five series. All tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the box office or tbonesbaseball.com.

The game is aired online on the T-Bones Network with the voice of the T-Bones, Dan Vaughan Jr., at http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

– Story from T-Bones

The Kansas City T-Bones are headed to the American Association Championship Series after defeating the Sioux City Explorers 4-2 Sunday evening in Sioux City.

It was an extra-sweet win for Kansas City, who spent most of the season in second place behind the Explorers. The year was a record-breaking year for the T-Bones, as they ended their regular season with a franchise-high 62 wins and only 37 losses.

Manager Joe Calfapietra was named Manager of the Year, Todd Cunningham was honored as an all-star and Tommy Collier was awarded Pitcher of the Month in both July and August.

The T-Bones will now take on the St. Paul Saints, the Northern Division series winners, in the best-of-five American Association Championship Series Tuesday and Wednesday in Minnesota. They will return to Kansas City for a Friday night game, in addition to Saturday and Sunday games, if needed.

Sunday evening in Sioux City, Tommy Collier had a spectacular performance, holding Sioux City hitless until the fifth and striking out a total of nine batters. Six of the first eight half-innings were three-up, three-down.

It was scoreless going into the fifth when Adrian Nieto led off with a solo home run over the left field fence to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, a double to left by Jay Baum and a pair of walks loaded the bases, but Tommy Collier, who leads the league in strikeouts, eliminated the threat by striking out the last two batters of the inning.

Todd Cunningham led off the seventh with a single to center and Adrian Nieto singled to center to put runners at the corners.

With one out, the Explorers brought in reliever Ryan Horstman for starting pitcher James Dykstra. Horstman threw four pitches, all balls, to walk the first batter he faced, Keith Curcio, and load the bases.

Sioux City went to their bullpen again, bringing in Luis Mateo, who struck out Alay Lago. Danny Hayes, on a 2-2 pitch, smacked a three-run RBI double to right field to clear the bases and put the T-Bones up 4-0.

In the bottom of the seventh, Sioux City grabbed a run to get on the board and prevent a shutout. Blake Schmit hit a single to right field, advanced to third on a double to left field by Dylan Kelly, then scored on a single to third by Daniel Jackson.

In the eighth, Joe Filomeno came in for relief of Collier, who worked seven innings, giving up only one run. Dean Green reached base after being hit by a pitch, Jay Baum walked and Green was then driven home by Schmit, who singled to center field.

Cody Winiarski came in to close out the ninth and Kansas City won it by a final score of 4-2.

Game time Tuesday at St. Paul is 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard, with Dan Vaughan Jr., at http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

– Story from T-Bones

The Kansas City T-Bones went into Saturday evening’s game in Sioux City with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five American Association Southern Division playoffs.

A win would have been a ticket to the championship series, but the T-Bones were shut out by the Sioux City Explorers 5-0, forcing a deciding Game 5 on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. The loss was only the second time Kansas City has been shut out this year.

Sioux City grabbed an early three-run lead in the bottom of the second. It started with a lead-off walk to Dean Green, who later scored on an RBI double off the left field wall by Dylan Kelly. Then Daniel Jackson smashed a two-run home run to make it 3-0 Explorers.

In the bottom of the eighth Sioux City added some insurance runs. Dexture McCall caught a lead-off walk, Blake Schmit singled to center, then Kelly walked to load the bases.

With one out, Jackson Lowery came in for relief of Adam Bleday. He walked the first batter he faced, Jackson, to push home a run. Luis Durango then sent a sac fly to center to score another run and make it 5-0 Explorers.

Kansas City, with six hits in the game, had a few chances but was unable to cash them in, leaving seven on base. Winning pitcher was Ian McKinney and the loss went to T-Bones starter Jared Mortensen.

The deciding Game 5 will begin at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday in Sioux City. Tommy Collier will take the mound for the T-Bones and James Dykstra for the Explorers.

The St. Paul Saints have defeated the Gary SouthShore RailCats in the Northern Division playoff series, which means the winner of Sunday evening’s game will go on to play in St. Paul Tuesday evening.

The T-Bones’ game can be heard on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, with Dan Vaughan Jr., at http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

– Story from T-Bones