Monarchs Ice Cold Offensively, Blanked by Saltdogs

Kansas City, KS — There were two runs in the first inning by Lincoln and that was the story tonight as the Monarchs could not find a tally to drop a 2-0 loss.

It started in the opening frame as Nick Shumpert opened up the day with a base hit followed by Jake Hjelle reaching base via error. Two pitches later, Jairo Pomares doubled into right field that brought in Shumpert to take an early lead. They doubled the advantage when Connor Bagnieski sent a grounder into right field and scored Hjelle, but it was a dart from Grant Richardson when he threw Pomares out at home.

The bullpen was terrific tonight as Jimmy Endersby made his 11th start on the bump and raked in seven K’s. After the first inning, he really settled in and located the zone. The bullpen threw 10 punch outs and Jay Groome contributed to the total. The New Jersey native said, “(I’m) honestly just having fun. I’m at a point in my career where I have nothing left to lose. I figured I would go out there and forget about everything that has happened in the past and take it pitch-by-pitch. It’s been working.”

Richardson was everywhere in the outfield and showed why he is the Monarchs go-to left fielder with a couple of exceptional throws.

This was a night where it was uncharacteristic baseball from the Monarchs being shutout for the first time this season. They had five total hits with seven runners left on base and had moments where they could make something happened, but fell short. Saul Garza, Edwin Diaz, Luken Baker, Onix Vega, and JD Davis all recorded a knock, but not one runner made it to third. It was just one of those night where the Monarchs will have to shake it off and get ready for tomorrow.

Kansas City welcomes in the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks for a weekend series. The Redhawks are 3.5 GB of first place and this will certainly be a must watch series between the two. First pitch is at 6:35 tomorrow night at Legends Field.