GARY, Ind.- The Kansas City T-Bones went to the bottom of the ninth inning with a 4-3 lead on Tuesday night at the U.S. Steel Yard, but ended up on the wrong end of a 5-4 final as Sean Henry singled home Adam Klein to win it for the RailCats.
The T-Bones fell behind early, as Gary scored two runs on two hits and one error in the bottom of the third. The big hit of the inning came off the bat of local Hammond, Indiana native Mike Coles, who singled home Klein with a line drive to right-center.
But, just like Monday night when Kansas City rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win, the T-Bones had an answer on Tuesday. KC tied the game with two runs on three hits in the fourth, both runs scoring with two outs.
Brandon Jones crossed the plate on an RBI single by Enrique Cruz, and Cruz scored on an RBI double by Liberty, Missouri native Hunter Mense.
Mense’s double tied the game at 2-2. The T-Bones took the lead, 3-2, on an RBI single by Trevor Coleman in the sixth.
Gary scored one run on four singles in the bottom of the eighth against right-hander Matt Foust to knot the game at 3-3. The RailCats would have taken the lead in the frame but Jones threw out Craig Maddox at the plate from left field for the third out on a base hit by Brian Kolb.
In the see-saw contest, KC again grabbed the lead in the top of the ninth. Jose Duran lead off with a line drive triple over Henry’s head in center, and leadoff man Justin Bass followed by roping an 0-1 pitch to right center to score Duran and give the T-Bones a 4-3 lead. The lead would not hold up.
Closer Jake Wiley came on for the save in the bottom of the ninth, but David Cooper lead off with a single and then stole second. Klein doubled to left-center to drive home Cooper and tie the game at 4-4.
KC then intentionally walked Mike Massaro and Coles to load the bases with no outs. Wiley struck out Ryan Babineau swinging, but Henry singled through the left side to win the game for Gary, 5-4.
Jones finished three for five for Kansas City and has now raised his average to .342 on the year. He has four home runs and twenty-eight RBIs in thirty-eight games.
Wiley took the loss, dropping to 1-4 on the season. He has nailed down seven saves in nine opportunities. Left-hander Chuck Lukanen (2-0) earned the win, allowing one run on two hits in one and one-thirds innings pitched.
The loss drops Kansas City to 20-18 on the year. Game three of the four-game set will begin at 7:10 on Wednesday. The T-Bones send right-hander Brian Grening (4-2; 3.38) to the mound for his eighth start of the season.
Tune in to the KMBZ Business Channel 1660 AM and online at www.tbonesbaseball.com to catch the play-by-play action.
