The Kansas City T-Bones (51-39) hit a home run off the Lincoln Saltdogs (37-54) 7-4 in the 11th inning to keep the T-Bones neck and neck with the Sioux City Explorers in second place in the southern division.
Omar Carrizales came up big in the 11th inning to break the 4-4 tie and to seal the series sweep. A big three-run home run to left field sealed the deal, scoring not only Carrizales, but Casey Gillaspie and Danny Mars. Carrizales went two-for-five on the day with a walk and a strikeout, being one of four who had two-hit games against the Saltdogs.
The T-Bones started with a 1-0 lead over Lincoln with a balk from starting pitcher Brad Thoutt to score Stewart Ijames from third.
In the fourth inning, two runs scored to answer the lone T-Bones run in the bottom of the third. Lincoln scored again in the fifth with a RBI single to center by Forrestt Allday, scoring Ivan Marin.
Kansas City had two runs of its own to make it a tied game at three apiece. The T-Bones took the lead with a wild pitch advancing Chris Colabello to third, then a RBI single for Christian Correa.
Lincoln tied the game at four in the top of the eighth, and both teams went scoreless until Carrizales put the game away with the three-run home run in the 11th.
Henry Owens (4-2) got the win, pitching all three extra innings with only a walk and five strikeouts to his name. Jon Perrin will be credited with another quality start for the T-Bones rotation, going 6.1 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, and 10 strikeouts.
The T-Bones will travel to Sioux City, Iowa, again in a must-win series to settle the tie for second place in the southern division of the American Association. Cleburne now falls in the race with only a game and a half ahead of the T-Bones and the Explorers.
The three-game series is set to begin Saturday night at 6:12 p.m. in Sioux City with the T-Bones sending out newly acquired left-handed pitcher T.J. House (7-9, 4.39) to face right-handed pitcher Sam Held (2-0, 2.74) for Sioux City.
The game is on the T-Bones Broadcast Network at http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/. Following that series KC will head back to Texas for a three-game series.
Home games with Sioux City are scheduled Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. 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