by Adam Cook, Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs (54-33) set a new American Association single season home run record by belting three long balls on Monday night at Legends Field, but the Winnipeg Goldeyes (48-39) spoiled the historic night by hitting two homers of their own and pounding out 12 hits in a 7-5 win.
The Goldeyes threatened early in this one, as Monarchs starter Brock Gilliam allowed a pair of base hits in the top of the first, putting runners at the corners with two outs.
A wild pitch in the next at-bat scored Ian Sagdal and the Goldeyes left the first half-inning of the game with a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half, Jacob Robson reached by way of the walk and later reached third on a stolen base with an errant throw to the outfield from catcher Deon Stafford Jr., but he was stranded at third the next at bat, keeping the score 1-0 Winnipeg.
Gilliam looked much sharper in the second inning, as he put together a 1-2-3 inning with back-to-back punchouts to end it. The Monarchs offense followed up with a modified 1-2-3 inning off their own after Darnell Sweeney led the inning off with a single but was thrown out at second base three pitches later.
In the third, the top of the Goldeyes order did some more damage. Raul Navarro led the inning off with a triple, and Ian Sagdal then collected a pair of RBIs with a two-run shot to the right field Home Run Hill, extending the Winnipeg lead to 3-0. The base knock – home run one-two punch came once again after the next batter, Max Murphy, smacked a single before the batter after him, David Washington, added to his American Association lead in the home runs category with a two-run shot, lengthening the Goldeyes’ lead to five.
On the Monarchs’ side, Kevin Santa laced a one-out single to the 5-6 hole and then was moved to second on a fielder’s choice from Mallex Smith. Ryan Grotjohn then got hit by a pitch, bringing Jacob Robson to the plate with runners on first and second. The runners had a head start since Robson drew a full count, and it came in handy when Robson went the other way down the third base line for a double just past a diving Ian Sagdal, scoring Santa.
The fourth inning began with a single to center field that got under the glove of Mallex Smith, landing Deon Stafford at third base. Reggie Pruitt Jr. then roped an RBI single for the Goldeyes’ sixth run. A fielder’s choice advanced Pruitt to second, and a steal of third set Ian Sagdal up for a sacrifice fly to left, helping the Goldeyes leave the inning with a 7-1 lead.
In the Monarchs’ half, Darnell Sweeney put a charge into a 3-2 fastball, turning it out to right field for a solo home run. Unfortunately for Kansas City, this was the only base hit of the half inning, and the Monarchs left the frame down 7-2.
After a four-batter top of the fifth, Kevin Santa led the home half off with a single. Following a steal of second, Ryan Grotjohn smacked a hard ground ball straight back to the pitcher Manasa, catching Santa between second and third. Manasa looked Santa back to the bag and threw to second, but Santa got in safely before shortstop Navarro made an errant throw to first, giving Santa third base. Grotjohn also stole second, but Casey Gillaspie grounded out to strand the runners in scoring position.
Reggie Pruitt represented the only offense for the Goldeyes with a double, but he didn’t come around to score. The same happened to the Monarchs after a leadoff Sweeney double, but the inning ended with him stranded at third.
Frank Rubio entered in the beginning of the seventh, ending Brock Gilliam’s night with 10 hits and seven earned, but nine strikeouts through six innings pitched. Rubio got the job done, getting himself a 1-2-3 inning.
For the Monarchs, Santa stayed involved in this one and got on base again, this time by way of an error. This turned the lineup over to leadoff hitter Mallex Smith, who reached base on an infield single. Robson then loaded the bases with one out with yet another infield single to first base. Gillaspie followed Robson with a hard hit sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Santa and making the score 7-3 Winnipeg.
The eighth marked Rubio’s second inning of work, where he once again retired the side scoreless.
In the bottom half, Jan Hernandez sent a moonshot past the out-of-town bullpen for the Monarchs’ 148th home run of the season, setting a new American Association single-season record and bringing the score to 7-4. The Monarchs set the old record last season hitting 147 during their championship 2021 season.
In the ninth, Jeremy Rhoades relieved Rubio and struck out two of three, turning it over to the bottom of the ninth with the Monarchs chasing three. Three proved to be too much, as despite a solo homer from Robson, the Monarchs couldn’t mount a comeback, making the final score 7-5.
The Monarchs continue the four-game home series against Winnipeg at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Legends Field. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.