by Kaitlyn Sanders, Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs (43-22) completed the sweep of the Sioux Falls Canaries (24-39) with a 4-2 score on Thursday night at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Monarchs now are in sole possession of first place in the West division, one game ahead of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
Kansas City got runners on base in both the first and second innings but couldn’t bring them in. The first three innings remained scoreless.
Darnell Sweeney warmed the KC bats, going 2-for-2 and reaching third base in the bottom of the third with a triple to deep center field, but once again, the Monarchs left the batter stranded.
Jabari Henry started the fourth inning off hot as his first hit launched a solo home run to left field, giving Sioux Falls its first lead of the game and the series at 1-0.
The Monarchs came back in the fourth as Matt Adams reached second with a double off the wall in left field. J.C. Escarra then punched one deep into the home run hill in right for a two-run home run to give the Monarchs the lead, 2-1, going into the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Casey Gillaspie reached first with a single to right field before Chad De La Guerra hit one to left. Pete Kozma popped a ball to right-center field to bring in Gillaspie for an RBI, the score 3-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, Thompson sent one out to deep right field for a triple, eventually coming home on a wild pitch and extending the Monarchs’ lead to 4-1.
Jeremy Rhoades came to the mound in the top of the eighth and walked Nick Gotta and Osvaldo Martinez back-to-back. After a fly-out to center field Gotta reached third before Jabari Henry’s fielders choice cut the lead in half at 4-2 for the final score.
Monarchs’ starter Lewis Thorpe went 5.0 innings pitched, with 5 hits, 1 run and 2 strikeouts to record his seventh win. Brian Glowicki came in to relieve him in the sixth and struck out three batters. Brandon Koch worked a scoreless inning while Jameson McGrane worked a 1-2-3 ninth for the save (13).
The Monarchs will travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to start another three-game series against the Canaries at 7:05 p.m. Friday, July 29. The away game in South Dakota 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.