by Gabriel Lopez, Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs (12-6) offense exploded for 17 hits and 11 runs to beat the Lincoln Saltdogs (11-5), 11-6 Tuesday night.
The Monarchs are currently on a five-game winning streak and have done so in commanding fashion. Tuesday night’s game makes four straight games with at least 15 hits. The Monarchs have also scored 11 or more runs in their past five games.
The Monarchs picked up where they left off Monday night.
Willie Abreu led off the game with a single to left field. Gaby Guerrero then grinded a seven-pitch at bat to work a walk.
After a double steal from Abreu and Guerrero, David Thompson drove a hard ground ball past third baseman Eddy Martinez to score Abreu.
Scorching hot Jan Hernandez stepped up to the plate and roped a single to right field to score Guerrero and Thompson. After the first inning, the Monarchs led 3-0.
The Monarchs tacked on another run in the second inning as Darnell Sweeney lined into center field to bring in Pete Kozma. After two innings of play, the Monarchs led 4-0.
A two-out solo home run by Hunter Clanin brought the Saltdogs within three runs, but the Monarchs answered in the bottom of the third.
Guerrero led off the inning with a single into left-center field. Matt Adams followed with a single of his own to the right-center gap, bringing Guerrero to third.
Thompson delivered a three-run moonshot to left field, marking back-to-back games with a home run. After three innings, the Monarchs gained a commanding 7-1 lead over the Saltdogs.
Lewis Thorpe (2-0) was solid for the Monarchs making his fourth start of the season. The left-hander from Australia tossed 5.1 innings, holding the Saltdogs to two hits and one earned run. Thorpe struck out four and secured his second win of the season.
Both teams stayed quiet in the fourth and fifth innings until the Saltdogs came to life in the top of the sixth. Eddy Martinez pieced a ground ball to Kozma, but he made an error on the play, allowing Randy Norris to score.
After Sherman Graves drove in Josh Altmann with a single, Garett Delano walked with the bases loaded to score Welington Dotel. J.R. DiSarcina singled to score Martinez, and the inning ended with the Saltdogs down two runs, 7-5.
In the top of the seventh, the Saltdogs inched closer to the Monarchs as Dotel hit a solo homerun to right field, bringing them within one.
The Monarchs responded, yet again. Guerrero led off the inning with a soft ground ball to third that he legged out for a hit. Adams and Thompson each singled to load the bases for Hernandez.
After five pitches, Carter Hope walked Hernandez to give the Monarchs another run. J.C. Escarra entered the game, replacing Alexis Olmeda at catcher. He peppered a single to right field to score Adams, but Thompson and Hernandez scored after the ball got past right fielder Dotel. The Monarchs ended the seventh inning up big, 11-6.
Matt Hartman shut down the Saltdogs as he threw two scoreless innings to finish the game.
The Monarchs will play the Lincoln Saltdogs in the final game of the series at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 1. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.