Category: T-Bones

Home run in 11th inning wins big for T-Bones

The Kansas City T-Bones (51-39) hit a home run off the Lincoln Saltdogs (37-54) 7-4 in the 11th inning to keep the T-Bones neck and neck with the Sioux City Explorers in second place in the southern division.

Omar Carrizales came up big in the 11th inning to break the 4-4 tie and to seal the series sweep. A big three-run home run to left field sealed the deal, scoring not only Carrizales, but Casey Gillaspie and Danny Mars. Carrizales went two-for-five on the day with a walk and a strikeout, being one of four who had two-hit games against the Saltdogs.

The T-Bones started with a 1-0 lead over Lincoln with a balk from starting pitcher Brad Thoutt to score Stewart Ijames from third.

In the fourth inning, two runs scored to answer the lone T-Bones run in the bottom of the third. Lincoln scored again in the fifth with a RBI single to center by Forrestt Allday, scoring Ivan Marin.

Kansas City had two runs of its own to make it a tied game at three apiece. The T-Bones took the lead with a wild pitch advancing Chris Colabello to third, then a RBI single for Christian Correa.

Lincoln tied the game at four in the top of the eighth, and both teams went scoreless until Carrizales put the game away with the three-run home run in the 11th.

Henry Owens (4-2) got the win, pitching all three extra innings with only a walk and five strikeouts to his name. Jon Perrin will be credited with another quality start for the T-Bones rotation, going 6.1 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, and 10 strikeouts.

The T-Bones will travel to Sioux City, Iowa, again in a must-win series to settle the tie for second place in the southern division of the American Association. Cleburne now falls in the race with only a game and a half ahead of the T-Bones and the Explorers.

The three-game series is set to begin Saturday night at 6:12 p.m. in Sioux City with the T-Bones sending out newly acquired left-handed pitcher T.J. House (7-9, 4.39) to face right-handed pitcher Sam Held (2-0, 2.74) for Sioux City.

The game is on the T-Bones Broadcast Network at http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/. Following that series KC will head back to Texas for a three-game series.

Home games with Sioux City are scheduled Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.

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T-Bones win series against Saltdogs

by Luke Schrock
The Kansas City T-Bones (50-39) redeemed themselves after losing the series in Sioux City by winning the series against the Lincoln Saltdogs (37-53) with a 5-2 win this afternoon.

Tommy Collier earned his third straight win in his last five starts. After letting in a run to the Saltdogs in the first inning off Tyler Moore fielder’s choice and scoring Forrestt Allday unearned, Collier went scoreless the rest of his time in the game. Andrew DiPiazza and Evan Korson pitched in the eighth and ninth.

Korson gave up the second and final run for Lincoln, but it wouldn’t matter in the end with five T-Bones runs.

As soon as Lincoln put one on the board, Kansas City put up four. Stewart Ijames, who was just acquired on a trade deal with the Texas AirHogs, scored Dylan Tice and Shawn O’Malley on a single, and Christian Correa hit one as well to score Ijames and Casey Gillaspie.

The fifth inning was last for the T-Bones: Omar Carrizales hit in Chris Colabello with a RBI single to make it a 5-1 ballgame. The final run for Lincoln came from the bat of Josh Mazzola, who hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Kansas City will wait in anticipation for the result of tonight’s game between Cleburne at Sioux City that starts at 7:12 p.m. A win for Sioux City means that the second-place spot in the south division remains tied, and a win for Cleburne secures the second-place spot for the T-Bones, at least for another day.

The T-Bones and Saltdogs play the final game of the series Friday night at JustBats Field at T-Bones Stadium with a first pitch at 7:05 p.m. The game will be on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/. Following that series KC will head to Sioux City for a three-game weekend series.

Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.

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T-Bones acquire Ijames, sign Carrizales

The Kansas City T-Bones, in the midst of a playoff race to defend their American Association Championship, announced two moves following Wednesday night’s game against Lincoln.

KC has traded future considerations to the Texas Airhogs for outfielder Stewart Ijames and signed former Colorado Rockies prospect outfielder Omar Carrizales.

Stewart Ijames is no stranger to the American Association, having spent the last two seasons with the Texas Airhogs. With Texas, Ijames was hitting .278 this season with 10 home runs and 50 RBI in 82 games. Last season the left-handed batting outfielder hit .267 in 99 games for the Airhogs with 10 home runs and 46 RBI.

Ijames was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB Draft from University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky) but did not sign, instead playing all four years at Louisville.

Following college he signed with the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League in 2013. In 90 games he hit .297 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI in his first pro season. He spent 50 games with Washington in 2014 before signing as a free agent in with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent 37 games at three stops for Arizona, mainly at rookie level Missoula in the Pioneer League. He combined hitting .309 with 12 homers and 36 RBI.

In his second season with Arizona, Ijames made the jump to the California League at high A, playing in 70 games with 18 home runs and 18 doubles, driving in 44 and carrying a .273 average. Those numbers placed him third in home runs on the club and fourth in RBI. He saw 33 games at AA Mobile, hitting .274 with three home runs and 12 RBI.

In 2016 Ijames spent the entire season at AA Mobile, hitting .242 for the Bay Bears with 10 home runs and 33 RBI. His 10 long balls were good for third on the club. In 2017, after starting the year on the disabled list, he spent 52 games at AA Jackson on the Southern League hitting .220 with six home runs and 20 RBI and play another five games at AAA Reno in the Pacific Coast League. He went 2-for-7 with two RBI for the Aces before his release on Aug. 7, 2017. He joined the Airhogs for the 2018 season.

Ijames was also drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 46th round of the 2007 MLB Draft from Owensboro Senior HS (Owensboro, Kentucky). The Kentucky native is a career .275 hitter in 605 games with 100 home runs and 336 RBI with a .357 on base percentage. The 31-year-old Ijames played four years with the University of Louisville with a career .292 average with the Cardinals in 239 games with 45 home runs and 212 RBI. He completed his career as a Cardinal ranked second in RBI, second in at-bats with 828, third in games played with 239, fifth in hits with 256, sixth in home runs with and seventh in doubles with 52. His senior season he was named Second Team All-Big East in 2012.

Omar Carrizales joins the T-Bones from New York Yankees system where the Maracay, Venezuela, native spent part of the last two seasons in their system. Prior to that, he spent 2013 to 2018 with the Colorado Rockies organization. The Rockies signed Carrizales as an International Free Agent in 2013, and he came stateside in 2014, playing 45 games at rookie level Grand Junction. Carrizales made the steady climb up the ladder, reaching AA in 2018. In seven minor league seasons, the left-handed batter is a career .266 hitter with 25 home runs and 233 RBI across 719 games. On the base paths Carrizales has stolen 66 bases in his career.

This season at high A Tampa in the Florida State League, Carrizales hit .254 in 46 games with 14 RBI. He also has three seasons of winter ball experience in his native Venezuela, playing for La Guaira. In 114 games he has 25 RBI with a .256 clip with 19 stolen bases. In is debut with KC Carrizales had an RBI double in last night’s game one win for the T-Bones over the Lincoln Saltdogs.

Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.

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