The Kansas City T-Bones (33-17) defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs (27-23), winning the final game of the series by a score of 8-5 Wednesday night in Lincoln, Nebraska, and sweeping the Saltdogs for the second time this season.
The T-Bones weren’t able to score in the first inning, but they didn’t let that stop them from starting out strong. An RBI from Adrian Nieto gave Kansas City the lead in the top of the second, 1-0.
Saltdogs manager Bobby Brown was ejected after a heated argument in the top of the third, as Dylan Tice was called safe on what Brown thought should’ve been an out.
Tice was tagged out on the very next play, but the T-Bones were still able to score behind a Nick Torres RBI single, giving them a 2-0 lead halfway through the third.
The third inning was fruitful for the Saltdogs as well. T-Bones pitcher Hunter Adkins walked two, and Lincoln was able to score two, tying it on an RBI double from Curt Smith.
In the fourth inning, the T-Bones got the offense rolling with three straight hits to load the bases off Lincoln starter Austin Robichaux.
A sacrifice fly from Dylan Tice gave the T-Bones the lead, 3-2 . The hits just kept coming for the T-Bones with Mason Davis and Todd Cunningham getting RBI singles as the lead increased to 5 -2.
Lincoln wasn’t able to stop the Kansas City momentum.
A homerun from Keith Curcio gave the T-Bones their 11th hit and increased the lead by two in the top of the fifth. Not to be outdone, Lincoln answered with a two-run home run by Christian Ibarra off Hunter Akins, which closed the gap to make the score 7-4 in favor of KC.
The remaining four innings featured four different T-Bones pitchers. Joe Filomeno came in to pitch for the T-Bones in the bottom of the sixth.
The last offensive strike for the T-Bones, Perio Jr. opened the seventh inning with a smashing home run and put the T-Bones up 8–4.
Kevin Hill took over to pitch for the T-Bones in the bottom of the seventh, and Nick Lee took over from him for the eighth. Cody Winiarski came in for the bottom of the ninth and finished off the Saltdogs despite a late surge. Atkins (3-2) was credited with the win for the T-Bones and Robichaux (2-4) the loss for Lincoln.
The Saltdogs scored one in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late. The T-Bones finished them off and claimed the win, making it their second series sweep of the season over the Lincoln Saltdogs with a final score of Kansas City 8, Lincoln 5.
The T-Bones will start a new series at home against the St. Paul Saints at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at in T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.
Individual tickets, season, group, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale and can be purchased by visiting the box office at T-Bones Stadium or www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The T-Bones’ games are airing on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.
– Story from T-Bones