By BRIAN BRUCE, tbonesbaseball.com
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Brian Grening threw a complete game that included 13 strikeouts as Kansas City topped Sioux City, 9-3, on Sunday night at Lewis and Clark Park in the middle contest of a three-game season-ending series.
Grening, who finishes the season with a 10-5 record and a 3.69 earned run average, struck out five of the first six batters he faced. In the top of the third, the T-Bones came alive offensively and took control of the game.
Spiker Helms led off with a home run over the center field fence, his third of the season. Then, with two outs, Brandon Jones singled, Ray Sadler blooped an RBI double down the right field line, Trevor Coleman walked, and Devin Goodwin launched a three-run homer (17) to center, giving the T-Bones a 5-0 advantage.
Then, in the seventh, with Kansas City leading 7-3, Goodwin hit his second homer of the night (18), this one a towering and hooking shot that tucked just inside the foul pole down the left field line.
Grening closed the game with three scoreless innings, including 1-2-3 frames in the seventh and eighth. His performance comes one night after Luke Irvine struck out 10 Explorers over seven shutout innings in a 2-0 T-Bones win.
The Sunday night victory ensures Kansas City a winning season as they improved to 51-48. The season finale is set for a 7:05 on Monday night. The game can be heard on the KMBZ Business Channel (1660 AM) and online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.
