The Kansas City T-Bones held off the Sioux Falls Canaries, 7-5, winning their season finale Monday afternoon at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.
After losing the first three games of this series, the T-Bones jumped out to an early lead Monday and never trailed.
Tyler Massey led off the game for Kansas City with a home run. Dalton Wheat followed up with a single to left field.
Later, with two outs in the inning, Anthony Gallas singled in Wiley and gave Kansas City the early 2-0 lead. Wheat went 3-for-4 in the game.
Kansas City added two runs in the second before giving up two to the Canaries in the fourth and fifth innings.
Darwin Perez led off the fourth inning with a double. After Jake Taylor and J.C. Linares flied out, Blake Schmit scored Perez with a single to center field.
Aaron Owen, who reached after being hit by a pitch, scored in the fifth with a single by Ethan Chapman.
The T-Bones took advantage of fielding errors by Sioux Falls, adding two more runs in the third and fifth innings, distancing themselves further by a score of 6-2.
The T-Bones’ final run came from a solo home run by Jake Blackwood in the seventh inning. It was Blackwood’s 60th career home run with Kansas City, putting him third on the franchise’s all-time home runs list.
Starting pitcher Josh Hodges (5-8) held off the Canaries, scattering eight hits, and giving up three runs, while striking out seven and not allowing a walk in 8 innings.
Kansas City entered the ninth with a 7-3 lead before closer Mark Haynes gave up two runs.
After striking out leadoff batter Owen, Haynes walked Chapman. An error by Massey allowed Owen to reach third and batter Taylor Zuetenhorst to advance to second. Taylor hit a sacrifice fly that scored Chapman before Linares singled to center scoring Zutenhorst.
The T-Bones finish the season with a 42-58 record, tallying a 24-26 home record and 18-32 road record.
Kansas City finished third in the American Association in attendance, totaling 207,855 fans at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Stay up-to-date with the club and organization during the off-season at www.tbonesbaseball.com.
– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones