In one of the toughest situations a reliever can face, Kansas City’s Steve Kent got three outs with the bases loaded in the ninth and helped the T-Bones secure a 6-5 win over Grand Prairie in front of 7,253 on Saturday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
With a 6-4 lead, T-Bones closer Mike Mehlich walked the first three batters in the top of the ninth inning, before surrendering an RBI single to Yasutsugu Nishimoto, which scored one run and left the bases loaded.
“I felt like the matchup was there for Kent and I trust him in that situation,” Hook said. “He has closer type stuff and he's fresh. That's a huge job by him to come in and get that first out and then to get the double-play ball. That’s a huge save for him.”
Trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the T-Bones took the lead with a five-run inning. The scoring started with a Lee Cruz’s RBI double that scored Brandon Jones.
Trevor Coleman, who was two for four, drove in his second run of the night on a single that tied the game.
Devin Goodwin singled home a run that gave the T-Bones their first lead of the night.
After giving up three runs in the first two innings, starter Devin Anderson settled in, as he allowed only one more run on a Simon RBI single in the seventh. Anderson finished the night with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
Kansas City (37-31) looks for the three-game series sweep against Grand Prairie (40-26) on Sunday night. First pitch at CommunityAmerica Ballpark is scheduled for 5:05.
