The Kansas City Monarchs fell to the Sioux City Explorers 11-8 in their second road game Wednesday night at Sioux City, Iowa, despite a grand slam homerun from Jan Hernandez in the top of the ninth inning.
The Monarchs kickstarted the offense in the second inning with a single to left field by Ryan Grotjohn and a walk to Anibal Sierra off Explorers starter Patrick Ledet.
Designated hitter Ramsey Romano then got Kansas City on the board, 1-0, with an RBI single to left.
The third inning saw the Monarchs add to the lead. Darnell Sweeney led off the inning with a single and would steal second. With one out Jan Hernandez hit a single to left field, driving in Sweeney to make it a 2-0 game in favor of the Monarchs.
Right-handed pitcher Brian Glowicki (1-1) got off to a good start in his second outing, holding Sioux City scoreless for the first two innings. The X’s got busy in the bottom of the third. They sent 11 batters in the inning, scoring five runs including a bases-loaded walk and a hit-by-a-pitch.
Glowicki went 3.2 innings and was relieved by right-handed pitcher Wilmer Torres in the fourth. Glowicki allowed four hits, seven runs and notched one strikeout.
The Explorers pushed their lead to 7-2 with two runs in the home half of the fourth. Jose Sermo hit a bases-clearing double to left center on a 3-0 count off Torres, scoring Lane Milligan and Jared Walker.
In the top of the fifth Johnny Field launched a two-run homer to left field, cutting into the Explorers lead, 9-4.
In the bottom of the sixth, Brian Ellington took over on the mound for Kansas City. Ellington pitched for just one inning, allowing no runs, giving up only two hits, and recording two strikeouts. Ramsey Romano took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh.
Lane Milligan reached base on an error by Jan Hernandez to set up the inning for Sioux City. A pair of singles by Sebastian Zawada and Joseph Monge drove in two unearned runs to put the X’s on top 11-8.
The Monarchs came back to life in the top of the ninth, thanks to a grand slam homer by Hernandez off Samson Abernathy, cutting into the Explorers’ lead 11-8.
Sioux City had to turn to closer Matt Pobereyko to get the final two outs of the game after Gabby Guerrero reached base on an error by Jose Sermo.
Ledet (1-0) picked up the win while Glowicki (1-1) was charged with the loss and the save for Pobereyko, his third. The Monarchs fell to 2-5 while the Explorers went to 6-2.
The Monarchs wrap up their series with the Sioux City Explorers on Thursday; first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at Mercy Field at Lewis and Clark Park in Sioux City, Iowa. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:40 p.m. and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.
The Monarchs return home Friday night, May 28, to open a six-game homestand, beginning with a three-game series with the Cleburne Railroaders.
Tickets to all Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
- Story from Dan Vaughan, Kansas City Monarchs