by Dan Vaughan Jr.
The Kansas City Monarchs (53-31) got a grand slam home run in the top of the fourth inning from Kevin Santa and a quality start from Matt Hartman to take game one of the three-game series from the Lincoln Saltdogs (39-46), Friday night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Monarchs took the lead in the top of the second on Casey Gillaspie’s solo shot to right field. It was his 16th home run of the season and his 51st in franchise history, placing him fifth all time for Kansas City.
Matt Hartman was in a good groove early for Kansas City as the right-hander tossed five scoreless frames, giving up just two hits and holding Lincoln off the board through five.
In the top of the fourth, the Monarchs loaded the sacks off starter Zach St. Pierre. Gillaspie was hit by a pitch with one out and was followed by Gio Brusa, who walked. J.C.Escarra singled to right to load the bases.
Santa then hit a grand slam to right field to wipe the bases clean and push the Monarchs to a 5-0 lead.
In the sixth the Saltdogs got back-to-back home runs from Rayder Ascanio and Ryan Long with one out to cut into the lead at 5-2. Hartman then righted the ship and got the final two outs, finishing the night with six innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits with five strikeouts.
Jameson McGrane worked a three up and three down seventh inning, but saw the Saltdogs pick up two runs off the right-hander in the home half of the eighth. Ascanio launched his second home run of the game, a two-run shot, to cut the lead to 5-4 as the game went to the ninth.
The Monarchs went in order in the ninth and turned to Brandon Koch to close the game out in the bottom of the inning. Koch struck out the first two batters, then got a ground out to end the game and record his third save of the season.
The Monarchs’ winning streak is now six in a row and they are 4-0 on the current six-game road trip.
The Monarchs and Saltdogs play game two of the three-game weekend series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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 aa baseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.