by Adam Cook, Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs (30-16) made it back-to-back nights with fireworks for 4th of July weekend, except this time they were on the field instead of in the air after a walkoff grand slam gave Kansas City the win and the sweep over the Gary SouthShore RailCats (20-27) on Sunday.
Monarchs starting pitcher Nick Belzer started the game on the right track with a three-batter inning with the help of a zero out double play.
This set the Monarchs up for success in the bottom half, where Darnell Sweeney took the first pitch of the game for the Monarchs offense to the right field Home Run Hill, giving Kansas City an early 1-0 lead.
In the second, the RailCats’ offense showed a little more life. Victor Nova led the inning with a fly ball to center that got lost in the sun, giving him a leadoff double. This was followed by a Jesus Marriaga single to score Nova, evening the score at one.
Belzer then recorded a strikeout and flyout in the next two batters, and picked Marriaga off at first base to end the inning.
The RailCats stayed on Belzer in the top of the third, leading off the inning with a single from Jackson Smith and a double from Alec Olund, giving Gary runners at the corners with no outs. Smith attempted to go home on a ground ball to Monarchs third baseman David Thompson, but a heads-up play from Thompson nabbed him at the plate, keeping the score tied while Olund advanced to third.
A sacrifice fly to center by Daniel Lingua gave the RailCats their first lead of the series before Belzer escaped the inning without any more damage. In the bottom half, the Monarchs offense once again began to come together. A leadoff single from Darnell Sweeney set him up to swipe his 19th bag of the season, tying the league lead. Two batters later, Matt Adams flew out to center field, advancing Sweeney to third. Next man up David Thompson then delivered with a two-out RBI single over the second baseman to score Sweeney and even the score at two before the turn of the inning.
In the top of the fourth, Belzer got back on track and retired the side in three batters for the first time since the first. Unfortunately for the Monarchs, this was the theme of the inning, as RailCats starter Adam Heidenfelder returned the 1-2-3 favor to the Monarchs bats.
In the fifth, the RailCats’ Alec Olund hit a one-out triple that set Thomas Walraven up with an RBI opportunity. Walraven took advantage of this and then some with a deep two-run home run to left, putting the RailCats ahead 4-2. The Monarchs didn’t let the RailCats escape the inning unscathed, however, as they led off the bottom half of the sixth with back-to-back doubles from Sweeney and Kevin Santa, bringing Kansas City within one, 4-3.
Jordan Martinson relieved Nick Belzer to begin the sixth inning for the Monarchs, and recorded a perfect 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom half, the Monarchs made some noise on the bases with a single and a walk but stranded Willie Abreu at third base to end the inning.
The seventh and the eighth did not provide any fireworks on Fourth of July eve, as only two batters reached base over the two innings, both by way of the walk.
Jameson McGrane came on in the top of the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Victor Nova, but he then struck out the next three batters to strand him on the bases, handing the Monarchs bats a one-run deficit entering the bottom of the ninth.
After the first two Monarchs of the inning were sat down in order, the next two, Matt Adams and David Thompson, reached base after being hit by pitches. This brought first baseman Casey Gillaspie to the plate with the game on the line. Gillaspie hit a backhand ground ball to shortstop Daniel Lingua, who overthrew first baseman Chris Burgess to score Adams, evening the score at four and sending the game to the tenth inning.
McGrane remained on the bump for the top of the tenth, except this time with a runner at second base for the extra-innings rule. Then, he attempted to score on a ground ball to second baseman Kevin Santa, but Santa delivered a bullet to catcher J.C. Escarra to nab him at the plate and keep the score tied.
In the bottom half, Gaby Guerrero began the inning at second base but remained there after back-to-back strikeouts to begin the inning. With two outs, the RailCats opted to intentionally walk Darnell Sweeney to get to Kevin Santa, who was then unintentionally walked on a 3-2 count, bringing all-star Jan Hernandez to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. In the clutch situation, Hernandez did what Hernandez does, and sent a deep drive to right field for a walkoff grand slam, sending a roar through Legends Field and giving the Monarchs the win and the sweep.
The Monarchs hit the road on Monday, July 4, as they face the Cleburne Railroaders for a three-game series starting at 7:06 p.m. The match can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:36 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.