by G.M. Vaughan
On a night when the T-Bones (56-41) were a bit shorthanded, owing to an injured Shawn O’Malley and an absent Stewart Ijames, the T-Bones stepped up to the plate needing the win against fellow division playoff contender, Sioux City (56-41).
The T-Bones’ Mason Davis provided the fire power in the eighth inning with a three-run home run.
Sioux City pitcher Carlos Sierra faced off against the T-Bones’ Dylan Baker in what seemed like a standoff for most of the game.
After five scoreless innings, Kyle Wren started the X’s with a single toward second, and he advanced to second on what could have been a costly error. On a pass ball by Stankiewicz, Wren advanced to third and then came home on a sacrifice fly by Samson, giving Sioux City a 1-0 lead in the sixth, but a double play ball kept the Sioux City offense from doing further damage.
Carlos Sierra held KC in check allowing just two hits in six scoreless frames.
The T-Bones’ hopes awakened in the bottom of the eighth after a hit-by-a-pitch by Nathan Gercken brought Austin Biggar to first base, and Dylan Tice followed with a base hit to left.
The Explorers brought in their closer, Matt Pobereyko, to try to get a four-out save.
With T-Bones on both first and second, Mason Davis brought the long ball, hitting a three-run homerun, giving Kansas City the 3-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
After Henry Owens walked Wren, the lead-off batter in the top of the ninth, Owens was quickly replaced by Carlos Diaz, who came in to close out the game for the T-Bones. Diaz was a strike-throwing machine striking out the next three batters, giving the T-Bones a much-needed win, 3-1.
With the win Friday night and Lincoln’s defeat over Cleburne, the T-Bones are now in a three-way tie for the lead in the South division.
The winning pitcher was Baker (4-5) for the T-Bones, and the losing pitcher was Matt Pobereyko (1-4) for the Explorers. Carlos Diaz earned his lucky 13th save.
The T-Bones will play at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, for game two against Sioux City. The game is on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.
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.
- Story from T-Bones