by Jaxson Webb, Monarchs
Sioux City, Iowa — The Kansas City Monarchs (47-29) erased a five-game losing skid on Tuesday with an impressive shutout victory over their division rivals, the Sioux City Explorers (34-41).
The pitching staff strung together a dominant performance with 10 strikeouts and just three hits.
The Kansas City Monarchs came out on Tuesday evening with a chip on their shoulders after five straight losses.
Matt Adams continued to stay hot at the plate and sent a charge through Lewis and Clark Park with a monstrous two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Kansas City kept the scoring going with Casey Gillaspie’s single that scored Darnell Sweeney (3-0).
Three innings later the Monarchs went on to score three more runs. With speed on the bases, Jacob Robson shot a double into left field that scored Kevin Santa and advanced Mallex Smith to third. David Thompson hit a single that scored Smith and Robson to increase the lead to six (6-0).
Matt Hall also had a terrific outing on Tuesday night by executing his pitches for seven straight innings. Hall did not allow a single runner to reach third base until his last inning.
After recording eight strikeouts in the game, Hall surpassed 70 strikeouts on the season (73). Hall allowed just three hits and two walks and kept hitters off balance all evening.
The seamless transition to the bullpen happened in the bottom of the eighth inning when Brian Glowicki took the hill. Glowicki faced four batters in the eight inning, and escaped with one walk and a strikeout.
Brandon Koch was called on to finish the job for the Kansas City Monarchs. Koch pounded the zone to seal the deal on the road shutout victory. Koch faced three explorers and retired them all in just eight pitches. Koch has now had four straight appearances with no runs allowed.
The Kansas City Monarchs will take on the Explorers again on Wednesday in the series finale with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.. The away 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.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.