The Kansas City Monarchs (66-31) took game one from the Cleburne (Texas) Railroaders (54-43) in the first game of the final away series of the 2021 regular season.
Left-handed-pitcher and Lee’s Summit native Matt Hall spun six innings of three-hit ball with 10 strikeouts Friday night to set the tone for Kansas City.
Gaby Guerrero got the offense started in Cleburne, hitting a solo home run in the top of the first.
The Monarchs began the second inning with a single by Paulo Orlando, followed by a Kevin Santa base hit. Charcer Burks singled to load the bases, and an RBI single by Daniel Wasinger brought Orlando home. Santa came in after Orlando, thanks to an error on the centerfielder Zach Nehrir. Morgan McCullough’s bat also heated up with an RBI single to score Burks and Wasinger, giving the Monarchs a towering lead early, 4-0.
Cleburne responded in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run by Cleburne star D.J. Peterson to get on the board, 5-1. It was the only run allowed by Matt Hall on the night.
In the top of the seventh, Morgan McCullough kept the offense hot with an RBI single to bring Kevin Santa home and extend the lead 6-1. An inning later, Casey Gillaspie launched a solo home run, bringing the lead to 7-1 off reliever Brendan Bell.
Ryan Grotjohn finished the night with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Charcer Burks in the ninth and gave the first-place Monarchs the 8-1 win.
Hall has now worked 12 innings for the Monarchs in two starts, surrendering just one run with 17 strike outs.
The Monarchs will meet the Cleburne Railroaders again at 7:06 p.m. Saturday in Texas.
The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Post-season tickets can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com/tickets.
- Story from Kansas City Monarchs