Kansas City was unable to hold off the Gary SouthShore offense in a 7-3 loss Wednesday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.
With the game tied at 1-1, Gary SouthShore sent nine to the plate in the sixth inning, scoring five runs. Chase Harris led off the inning against Kansas City starter Jared Messer with a single and moved to third on a base hit by Frank Martinez.
Messer (3-2) then walked his fourth batter of the game, Jaime Del Valle, loading the bases. A single by Alex Crosby scored Harris and gave the RailCats a 2-1 lead. John Kovalik relieved Messer, and issued a bases-loaded walk to Jose Gonzalez, which scored Martinez. John Holland then singled to right field against reliever Josh Tols, scoring both Del Valle and Crosby, bringing the score to 6-1.
The T-Bones cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth. RailCats’ starting pitcher Richard Castillo walked both Anthony Gallas and Vladimir Frias.
Then, with two outs, Starlin Rodriguez, who was pinch-hitting for Sergio Leon, singled and scored Gallas. Another single by Tyson Gillies made it 6-3 as Frias scored.
The T-Bones scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning. With one out, Frias singled to right field and advanced to third on a single by Dalton Wheat. With two in scoring position, Brian Erie singled to left, scoring Frias and bringing the score to 1-0.
The RailCats answered in the top of the fifth. Messer walked his third batter of the game Holland, who stole second. Holland then scored on a deep hit to right field by Cameron Newell, who tried to stretch it into a double but was thrown out by Wheat. After Messer struck out Edwin Devarie, the inning ended with the game tied, 1-1.
With the loss, Kansas City (29-35) dropped two of three games against Gary. The T-Bones are off Thursday before heading out for a three-game road trip to Winnipeg. The series starts Friday at 7 p.m. All of the action can be heard online at TBonesBaseball.com.
– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones