Wichita starter Jon Link gave up hits to only three Kansas City batters Tuesday night, as the Wingnuts beat the T-Bones, 5-1, at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita.
The Wingnuts took an early lead when leadoff hitter Christian Stringer walked against Kansas City starter Jeremy Strawn in the bottom of the first. A double by Brent Cox moved Stringer to third, which allowed Stringer to score on a groundout to shortstop by Brent Clevlen, giving Wichita a 1-0 lead. Cox swung a hot bat all night, going four-for-five with an RBI.
In the fourth inning, Wichita added the only other run it needed, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Richard Prigatano and Harrison Kain. That gave the Wingnuts a 2-0 lead. Strawn (0-4) had trouble working out of trouble all night, allowing at least one runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings. Although he struck out five and walked only one, Strawn allowed eight hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Strawn’s counterpart, Link (4-2), who threw seven scoreless innings against Kansas City in a win last week at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, went seven again, this time allowing one run and five hits, while striking out seven and walking only one. He won his fourth consecutive game. Link’s only blemish came in the fifth, when Vladimir Frias belted a solo home run, his second of the year.
Kansas City had six hits in the game but half of them came from Brandon Tierney, who went three for four. Besides Frias’ home run, the other two hits were off the bat of Tyler Massey, who went two for three with a double.
The T-Bones (11-15) will take on Wichita (13-12) again Wednesday night at 7:05 at Lawrence Dumont Stadium. All of the action can be heard online at TBonesBaseball.com.
– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones