T-Bones offense shut-down in series finale

By BRIAN BRUCE

FARGO, ND-  Pitching, pitching, and more pitching.

That’s what the T-Bones ran into on Thursday night, as Fargo-Moorhead starter Paul Burnside set the tone with six strong innings and the RedHawks topped Kansas City, 4-1, in the finale of a four-game series at Newman Outdoor Field.

Burnside, a right-hander, made his fifth appearance and third start of the season and was dominant early.

Throwing in the low 90s with his fastball, he pitched perfect first and second innings and struck out five T-Bones over the first three frames.

In fact, he struck out the last two T-Bones to bat in the third and the first man to come to the plate in the fourth.  He improved to 2-2 with a line of 6.0 IP, one run (unearned), two hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts.  He threw exactly 100 pitches.

While Burnside was dominating, T-Bones starter Brian Grening was doing the exact same.

He worked scoreless first and second innings, and finally gave up a run with one out in the third on a solo home run to left field by RedHawks third baseman Ryan Stovall which made the score 1-0.

Grening was unfazed, though, and went on to pitch all eight innings for the T-Bones on the night.  The only other blemish against the righty from Newport Beach, CA was a two-out three-run homer off the bat of designated hitter Ryan Delgado in the 6th.

The long ball was Delgado’s fourth of the season and made the score 4-0.  Grening took the loss to drop to 2-2 on the season.  His final line was 8.0 IP, four hits, four runs (all earned), two walks, and four strikeouts.

Kansas City earned its lone run in the top of the seventh on an RBI groundout by shortstop Jose Duran to narrow the gap down to 4-1.  They would not come any closer.  One offensive highlight for KC was a two for four performance by left fielder Justin Bass.

Kansas City (10-10) returns home for a six-game homestand beginning on Friday night, June 8th as the T-Bones face intra-state and Central Division rival Wichita at 7:05.

Staff ace Josh Rainwater (1-2; 4.88) will be on the hill for Kansas City in his fifth start of the season.  Make your way out to CommunityAmerica Ballpark to enjoy the game, which can also be heard in the KC market on the KMBZ Business Channel, 1660 AM, and online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.