By MATT FULKS, tbonesbaseball.com
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Casey Barnes and Derek Gordon were solid in their Kansas City starting debuts, leading the T-Bones to a doubleheader sweep of Sioux Falls, 4-2 and 10-0, in front of 5,964 Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
In the nightcap, Jeff Lusardi got things going in the second inning for Kansas City, collecting his first RBI as a member of the T-Bones with a single that scored Vladimir Frias, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning. Robby Kuzdale then roped a two-out home run over the centerfield wall that scored Lusardi and gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead.
Kansas City was back at it in the third, opening the inning with four consecutive hits, including RBI singles by Byron Wiley and Jonny Kaplan, that gave the T-Bones a 5-0 advantage. Brian Erie added an RBI single before Kuzdale muscled an RBI ground-rule double to right field, scoring Kaplan.
The next batter, T.J. Mittelstaedt, then laced a two-run ground-rule double and extended the Kansas City lead to 9-0. The inning finally ended after 10 batters had stepped to the plate.
Gordon (1-0), who pitched an inning in relief Thursday at Winnipeg, threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout in the seven-inning game for his first win as a professional. Kye Winter (1-1) took the loss.
Kansas City took an early lead in the first game as well, this time off of Sioux Falls starter Joe Bircher (2-5), and would never look back. Wiley led off the second inning with a single before Frias launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall. Erie and Kuzdale both reached base later in the inning and scored on a hit by Mittelstaedt, helping Kansas City extend its lead to 4-0.
Making his Kansas City debut, Barnes (1-0) picked up the win. Kris Regas tallied his 11th save.
With the doubleheader sweep, the T-Bones move to 24-25 on the season. They conclude a four-game series with Sioux Falls Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.
