By MATT FULKS, tbonesbaseball.com
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kansas City finished the 2014 season on a high note Monday afternoon, beating St. Paul 12-10 in a back-and-fourth battle at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Between the two clubs there were 22 runs scored on 31 hits, five errors, three ties and three lead changes. There were runs scored in every single inning until the eighth.
Things looked bleak for Kansas City early. St. Paul jumped all over Kansas City starter Kyle DeVore in the first inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Following singles by Devin Thaut and Willie Cabrera, Angelo Songco reached third on a throwing error by Vladimir Frias, scoring both Thaut and Cabrera and putting St. Paul in the lead. The next five batters reached base, scoring three more runs and giving the Saints a 5-0 lead. The Saints didn’t record an extra-base hit in the inning.
Kansas City roared back over the game’s next three innings. Trailing 5-1 in the second, Robby Kuzdale tripled and later scored on a wild pitch by Saints’ starter Justin Klipp. T.J. Mittelstaedt then walked. With that walk, Mittelstaedt reached base in all 51 home games this season. Danny Richar hit a home run off the foul pole that cut the St. Paul advantage to 5-4. Nick Schwaner later hit a solo shot in the third, his fifth of the season, tying the game at 5-5.
The next several frames followed a similar narrative. Kansas City took the lead in the fourth, only to see St. Paul tie things up the next half inning courtesy of a solo home run by Jake Taylor. Kansas City re-took the lead in the fifth, this time by three runs. But Taylor led St. Paul back in the sixth, hitting a three-run homer that knotted things up. The T-Bones once again took the lead immediately afterwards, again hanging three runs on the Saints, highlighted by a two-run homer by Ray Sadler. The Saints mustered a single run the next half inning, but Kansas City escaped with a 12-10 lead intact.
Kansas City scored in each of the game’s first six innings, pounding out 16 hits in a winning effort. Pat Doyle (7-4) picked up the win for Kansas City, tossing two innings in relief. Matt Meyer took the loss for St. Paul. Patrick Mincey pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save as a member of the T-Bones.
With the win, the T-Bones complete a five-game sweep of St. Paul and finish the season on a six-game winning streak. It’s the first winning streak of more than five games since the club ended the 2010 season with eight consecutive wins. Kansas City finishes the 2014 season with a 48-52 record, good for third place in the Central Division.
The T-Bones were second in attendance in 2014, averaging 5,187 fans per game at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Stay up-to-date with the club and organization during the off-season at www.tbonesbaseball.com.
