by Alex Dean
The Kansas City T-Bones (35-36) couldn’t contain Lincoln’s bats, as the Saltdogs (32-40) cruised to a 15-7 win Sunday in Nebraska, closing out a sweep of this weekend series.
Kansas City starter Jose Mesa Jr. (1-2) picked up the loss, giving up nine runs, eight of them earned, through three innings. Jake Hohensee (3-5) got the win for Lincoln.
The T-Bones struck first in the second inning on a two-run home run by Shawn O’Malley on a shot to right field, driving in Roy Morales off the starter Hohensee.
Saltdogs’ Cody Regis and Randolph Oduber both had RBI in a four-run bottom of the third, putting themselves in the lead at 4-2. Roy Morales would answer with an RBI single off the Saltdogs starter in the fourth, driving in Daniel Nava and bringing the game within one.
However, an eight-run bottom of the fourth by the Saltdogs, including an RBI by Cody Regis and Curt Smith off Mesa Jr. blew the game open for Lincoln.
Kevin Hamann took over for Mesa Jr. in the fourth and faced seven more batters, giving up the final three runs of the inning. Hamann went two more innings and gave up two more runs to run the score up to 14-3.
Ramsey Romano came in for mop-up duty and finished off the game for the T-Bones, giving up one run over the final two innings.
The T-Bones offense fell silent after the fourth inning, going scoreless until a four-run ninth which saw Daniel Nava hit a two-run double and Chris Colabello follow with a two-run home run off Lincoln pitcher Shairon Martis. However, this would prove to be too little too late for KC, as the T-Bones fell to the Saltdogs 15-7.
One of the T-Bones’ bright spots on offense came from Daniel Nava, who finished the day 4-5 with three doubles and two RBI.
Every T-Bone had at least one hit aside from Tyler Marincov, who went 0-4. However, Marincov had a home run taken away from him in the seventh on a leaping catch by Saltdogs left fielder Nick Schultz. He also had a hit taken away in the eighth when he grounded into a double play on a diving stop by shortstop Ivan Marin.
After an off day on Monday, the T-Bones will head to Cleburne to take on the Railroaders Tuesday Aug. 6, with a first pitch of 7:06 p.m. Tommy Collier (6-4) will take the hill for the T-Bones. The game will be on the T-Bones Broadcast Network with Dan Vaughan on the call.
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
Why Nava hadn’t been picked up by a minor league team yet remains a mystery. He’s actually fully ready to make a major impact for an MLB contender if he was given the chance. It’s the same old storyline of Nava’s entire career: he never gives up even as he’s rarely given the chance that his abilities prove out.