By BRIAN BRUCE, Tbonesbaseball.com
GARY, Ind.- After falling behind 6-0 through three innings, Kansas City scored seven unanswered runs the rest of the way to take the series opener, 7-6, in eleven innings at the U.S. Steelyard on Monday night.
Gary sent ten men to the plate in the third, scoring five runs on five hits against T-Bones starter Luke Irvine (0-0). The inning included a two-run double from Kyle Haines, an RBI single by former T-Bones outfielder Sean Henry, and an RBI groundout by Mike Rohde.
Kansas City began its long road back in the top of the fourth. Former Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds infielder Enrique Cruz tripled home Trevor Coleman to narrow the gap to 6-1. Then, in the fifth, the T-Bones scored three runs with two outs.
Ray Sadler hit a high, slicing drive off the top of the right field wall to drive home Justin Bass and Gus Milner, followed by an RBI single from Trevor Coleman that scored Sadler to make it 6-4.
The T-Bones then tied the game in the top of the sixth. Again with two outs, Brandon Jones knocked a two-run single up the middle, scoring Devin Goodwin and Bass to tie the game, 6-6. It would stay tied until the top of the eleventh.
With two outs, Jose Duran at third base and Sadler at the plate, RailCats right-hander Nolan Nicholson bounced a breaking ball that skipped by Gary catcher Craig Maddox. Duran scampered home from third to give the T-Bones a 7-6 lead.
Right-hander Mike Mehlich, who had pitched a scoreless tenth inning, found a way to close out the RailCats in the bottom of the eleventh. Leadoff man Adam Klein walked and tried to steal second, but was gunned down by Coleman for the first out.
Mike Massaro then popped out to second, but was followed by back-to-back singles by Mike Coles and Maddox.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Henry grounded into a fielder’s choice as the T-Bones executed a force out at second to end the game. Mehlich (1-0) earned the win, pitching two innings of shutout baseball in the tenth and eleventh.
The win, Kansas City’s fourth consecutive, pushes the T-Bones to a season-high three games over .500 at 20-17. KC is in second place in the Central Division, 7 ½ games behind Wichita.
Game two of the four-game set commences at 7:10 on Tuesday. Left-hander Devin Anderson (1-4; 4.81) will be on the hill for Kansas City.
Right-hander Stephen Hiscock (1-2; 2.63) takes the ball for Gary. Tune in to the KMBZ Business Channel 1660 AM or online at www.tbonesbaseball.com for the play-by-play call.
