Kansas City flies past Canaries as Nichols shines in debut

By MATT FULKS, tbonesbaseball.com

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kansas City soared past the Sioux Falls Canaries with the help of newcomer Kyle Nichols, whose first swing as a T-Bone sent a shot over the left-field wall, in an 8-3 win in front of 8,805 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Thursday night.

Behind the support of the eighth-largest crowd in T-Bones history, Kansas City scored all eight runs in three innings, with three in each of the fourth and sixth innings, to go with its two in the first.

The Canaries were held scoreless until scoring one in the third inning off Kansas City starter Shaun Garceau (2-6). Silent through the middle innings, Sioux Falls sent eight to the plate in a two-run seventh, which included a Stephen King home run.

By that time, Kansas City had already plated eight in an inning — a big fourth — when singles from Matt Padgett, Nichols, Felix Molina and Joey Gathright gave the T-Bones a 5-1 lead.

Kansas City gave Garceau the support he needed, as he gave up three runs on eight hits and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings.

Kansas City (17-29) and Sioux Falls (16-30) will conclude their four-game series Friday night at 7:05. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618 or at tbonesbaseball.com.