by Sophie Darting
The Kansas City T-Bones were unable to take advantage when they had runners on base and ended up falling, 5-2, to the Chicago Dogs in the series finale and last game of the homestand on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, Kansas.
During the rubber match of the series, both the Kansas City T-Bones and the Chicago Dogs sent an ace to the mound in Tommy Collier (1-3) and Luke Westphal (4-0). It certainly showed throughout the first four innings. It was a pitcher’s duel; both starters were dealing, matching each other pitch for pitch, and inning for inning, until the fifth inning.
The T-Bones (9-13) faced a tall task in the southpaw on the mound for the Dogs (14-7), as Westphal had a league-leading 0.00 ERA, with 31 strikeouts and had yet to give up a run in 23.2 innings pitched this season. The T-Bones quickly changed that.
After getting men on base but being unable to convert them into runs in the previous innings, Kansas City finally had some success in the bottom of the fifth inning.
After Chicago broke up the scoreless pitchers’ duel in the top of the fifth when they scored a run off an RBI-single by Keon Barnum, Kansas City answered in the bottom of the frame.
Ryan Brett roped a one-out double to right field and was able to tag and advance to third on a fly ball by Ramsey Romano. Danny Mars stepped up to the plate with a runner on third and two outs, and he delivered, as he also doubled and scored Brett to tie the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth.
Collier had been pitching well throughout the contest and was able to get himself out of any jams that he faced, stranding Dogs on base in almost every inning. However, Chicago finally got to him in the top of the sixth inning, knocking in three runs with the help of run production from the bottom of the order.
An RBI single by Harrison Smith, an RBI double by Rey Gonzalez, and another RBI single, this time by David Olmedo-Barrera, gave Chicago a 4-1 lead and ended Collier’s day on the mound.
Chicago added another run in the top of the eighth off a pair of back-to-back doubles by Gonzalez and Olmedo-Barrera to increase their lead to 5-1.
Dylan Tice gave the T-Bones life again in the bottom of the eighth inning when he launched his first home run as a T-Bone to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
The Dogs scored again in the ninth inning, extending the lead to 6-2, and the T-Bones ultimately fell, as they were unable to mount a comeback against the Dogs’ bullpen.
The T-Bones will have an off-day on Monday and then hit the road on Tuesday, June 11, to face the Cleburne Railroaders and then the Texas Airhogs in a six-game road trip. The games will be on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.
Full and half-season 2019 ticket packages as well as mini plans 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