It was a scorcher at AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Friday as the (45-37) Kansas City T-Bones took both games of a doubleheader 3-2 and 4-1 against the (22-62) Texas AirHogs.
In game one the T-Bones had a lone run for a while after Shawn O’Malley hit his third homerun in two games. The score would remain dormant until the sixth inning when Casey Gillaspie broke the silence by scoring Danny Mars on a RBI single.
Christina Correa kept the good times rolling with an unearned sacrifice fly to left. Texas wouldn’t stay silent as Chen Junpeng hit in Stewart Ijames on a sacrifice fly to left to score the AirHogs’ first run of the first game in the bottom of the sixth inning. The T-Bones went on to take game one, 3-2.
Akeem Bostick (1-0) had a great debut outing in a T-Bones uniform in game one. He got the win, threw five innings, let go four hits, and struck three out. Bostick had control of the game during his entire outing and was overall impressive in his first game with the T-Bones.
Losing pitcher in game one was Cui Enting (0-1), who is yet to throw a winning game for the AirHogs. He let up two hits, one earned run, two walks, and one punchout in five total innings. It was the longest outing for Enting. Previously three innings were his longest outing on Aug. 4 against Sioux City where the AirHogs lost 6-1.
Game two was very similar, but the game was knotted up at one apiece for most of the night cap. Jose Mesa Jr. (2-2) pitched the whole seven-inning game, never getting into trouble and allowing the T-Bones to rack up four runs to finish the sweep.
Zech Lemond allowed five hits on two strikeouts and one run, but it was his relief pitcher Pete Perez (2-2) that let things slip through his hands. Perez gave up the three-run home run by Casey Gillaspie to put the T-Bones on top, but he only gave up two more hits and no more runs after the home run.
Texas drew first blood in the first inning in what looked like Texas redeeming itself from the first game. Chen Junpeng scored the first run again for the AirHogs on an RBI single to score Javion Randle. The AirHogs did not score the rest of the game.
Kansas City’s Roy Morales hit a solo blast to tie the game in the second inning to answer Junpeng’s RBI in the first. The long ball wasn’t done yet. Casey Gillaspie hit a three-run blast to give the T-Bones a cushion and seal the sweep of the double-header, 4-1, in the Texas heat as the T-Bones continue their now 10-game win streak.
The teams will wrap up the three-game series Saturday night in Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with right-handed pitcher Tommy Collier set to make the start for Kansas City while former T-Bone Erik Manhoah Jr. will go for Texas. The game will be on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.
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