By MATT FULKS, Tbonesbaseball.com
GARY, Ind.- Kansas City used a five-run sixth inning to seize control of Wednesday night’s game, as the T-Bones went on to beat the Gary SouthShore RailCats, 6-4, at the U.S. Steel Yard.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the sixth, with two outs and Brandon Jones on second, Trevor Coleman singled.
Then, with Jones on third and Coleman on first, Enrique Cruz hit a sharp grounder at third baseman Brian Kolb, who bobbled the ball and then threw to second to try for an inning-ending force out. Coleman beat the throw with a feet-first slide as Jones scored, narrowing the gap to 3-2. From there, the floodgates opened.
Hunter Mense followed with an RBI single, Jose Duran hit a two-run double off the very top of the left-center field wall, and Devin Goodwin lined an RBI single to center, giving the T-Bones a 6-3 cushion.
All the while, Kansas City starter Brian Grening (5-2) was steady. After facing one above the minimum in the first two innings, Grening gave up two runs in the third and one in the fourth. From that point on, he was nearly flawless. He went on to pitch seven innings, surrendering three runs, 10 hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. Grening’s ERA now sits at 3.43.
Left-hander Steve Kent allowed one run on two hits in the eighth, and right-hander Mike Mehlich worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his fourth save and nail down the victory which improves Kansas City to 21-18 on the season.
The finale of the four game set is slated for a 7:10 start on Thursday night. Kansas City sends right-hander Sean Garceau (3-0; 1.29 ERA) to the mound for his fourth start of the season, against Gary SouthShore’s Morgan Coombs (2-3; 6.15).
Catch the play-by-play call on the KMBZ Business Channel 1660 AM and online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.
