Garcia Nears League Record In Monarchs Loss At Cleburne

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CLEBURNE, Texas — Julian Garcia struck out 14 batters to come within four of the American Association single-season record in an extra-inning Kansas City Monarchs loss.

A walk-off sacrifice fly from Cleburne third baseman Chris Kwitzer in the bottom of the 10th sealed the win for the Railroaders in the first game of a weekend set from La Moderna Field.

The Monarchs (54-37) remain in second place in the American Association standings, five games back of first-place Sioux City. They are two games ahead of Fargo-Moorhead and Sioux Falls for second.

Garcia has a league-best 163 strikeouts on the season in 19 starts. The league record is 167, set in 2017 by Fargo-Moorhead’s Tyler Alexander. Alexander now pitches in the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox.

Kansas City took the early lead in the third when Jaylyn Williams scored on a Micah Pries sacrifice fly. Kwitzer homered in the bottom of the third to tie the game at one.

Cleburne starter Dakota Chalmers threw eight innings of one-run baseball to keep the Monarchs in check. He struck out seven and allowed just one walk and thee hits, throwing 86 pitches.

Patrick Pridgen threw scoreless eighth and ninth innings for Kansas City, allowing one hit. Jake Brentz allowed the winning run in the ninth to take the loss.

Ronnie Williams earned the win for Cleburne (41-49), throwing scoreless ninth an 10th innings.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs and Railroaders continue their series Saturday night at 7:06 p.m. Kade Mechals will start for Cleburne against Kansas City’s Josh Hendrickson. Fans can hear the game on The Bet KC 1660 AM and the Audacy app.

Nogowski’s Sac Fly Ends Marathon Win

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – John Nogowski helped end the Kansas City Monarchs’ playoff hopes in 2024.  He’s hunting down his former employers, the Sioux City Explorers, in 2025.

Nogowski’s walk-off sacrifice fly lifted the Monarchs to a 4-3 victory in 13 innings over the Winnipeg Goldeyes at Legends Field. The game marked the most innings in a Monarchs game since a 16-inning classic against the Chicago Dogs in the 2023 Miles Wolff Cup Finals.

The Monarchs (54-36) moved within 3.5 games of first place in the American Association’s West Division. They increased their lead over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in the race for the No. 2 seed to 2.5 games.

Even after becoming the sixth different Monarchs player to deliver a walk-off in 2025, Nogowski made it about his teammates.

“It was cool to be the last hitter of the game, but there was a lot going up to that,” Nogowski said. “That’s a great team win.”

Josh Bissonette provided the team’s best defensive play in the top of the 13th. The Monarchs shortstop made an incredible diving stop to his right, robbing Miles Simmington of a go-ahead RBI single.

“We don’t win that game if JB doesn’t make that play at short,” Nogowski praised. “He’s been incredible all year. He shows up every day and plays his butt off.”

Nogowski kept the game going in the 11th inning. The former St. Louis Cardinal and Pittsburgh Pirate dropped a game-tying RBI single to shallow center field to knot the game at three.

The Monarch first baseman stepped in with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 13th inning. He lifted a fly ball to deep center field, scoring Micah Pries.

“Growing up, I’ve always learned to play the game the right way,” Nogowski said. “These games are similar to the playoff games we will have. They’re going to be tight.”

The Monarchs and Goldeyes (37-52) remained deadlocked for seven innings. Isiah Gilliam tied the game with an RBI double in the fifth inning.

Kansas City’s bullpen threw 9.1 innings in relief of Grant Gambrell without giving up an earned run. Six different relievers came together to hold Winnipeg in check.
“All our relievers kept it tight,” Nogowski said.

Jeff Hakason (5-1) kept his composure to hang another zero in the top of the 13th.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs have an off day on Thursday to travel to Cleburne, Texas to take on the Railroaders for a weekend series. First pitch on Friday is slated for 7:06 pm, fans can tune in on The Bet KC 1660 AM and the Audacy App.

Monarchs Hit Home Run Century Mark

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Three tape-measure home runs powered the Kansas City Monarchs to a series-clinching victory.

The Monarchs rolled the Winnipeg Goldeyes 11-0 at Legends Field on Tuesday night. The home runs marked Kansas City’s 99th, 100th, and 101st bombs of the season.

John Nogowski crushed his fourth home run in nine games in the fourth inning. Robbie Glendinning clubbed his team-best 18th home run of the summer in the fifth inning.

Jorge Bonifacio rounded out the trio with a no-doubter to left field in the seventh inning.

“We got our offense going, got guys on base,” Nogowski said. “Our main goal is winning a championship. Playoffs are great, but we want to win it for Skip.”

Ashton Goudeau (4-5) dominated the Goldeyes’ lineup to make it all possible. The Monarchs starter mowed through six scoreless innings.

“Ashton gave us good tempo tonight,” Nogowski said. “When he has all his pitches working like that, it’s fun to watch.”

Goudeau has now thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings.

Nogowski started the scoring in the fourth inning. The former major leaguer leveled a two-run blast out of Legends Field to make it 2-0 Monarchs.

“I think I’ve been getting good pitches to hit,” Nogowski said. “That comes from getting guys on base. When we have guys on, pitchers can’t pitch around you.”

Nogowski delivered a 2-for-4 performance and reached base three times on Tuesday.

Kansas City’s (53-36) next home run put the game out of reach. Glendinning sailed a two-out three- run tank to give the Monarchs a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning.

Glendinning increased his RBI tally to 66 in the win.

Bonifacio’s 12th home run at Legends Field climbed over the Home Run Patio wall to make it 6-0 in the seventh inning.

The Monarchs added five insurance runs off the Goldeyes’ (37-51) bullpen in the eighth inning. Isiah Gilliam added his first RBI back with Kansas City as part of the run.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs and Goldeyes finish up their 2025 season series Wednesday night at 6:35 pm. Grant Gambrell starts for Kansas City against Winnipeg’s Ben Kowalski.

Goldsberry Guides Monarchs Past Goldeyes

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Blake Goldsberry hurled a fifth consecutive quality start, Isiah Gilliam scored in his return and Hunter McMahon locked up his 12th save to complete a team win for the Kansas City Monarchs 

The Monarchs rolled past the Winnipeg Goldeyes 4-1 at Legends Field. Goldsberry delivered eight innings for his second consecutive start. 

The former Kansas Jayhawk struck out seven, which tied a season best. Goldsberry faced the minimum in five of his eight frames.

“We wanted to throw what [Goldsberry] was most confident in,” said catcher Ryan Leitch. 

Goldsberry (7-1) retired 12 batters in a row from the second inning to the fifth inning. The right-hander dealt three consecutive strikeouts in the middle innings to cruise through his second time through the lineup.

“That’s just the pitcher he is. When he gets comfortable, it’s hard to stop him,” Leitch said.

Gilliam sparked Kansas City (52-36) to a three-run second inning. Gilliam started a spree of three straight Monarch hits, finishing with Jaylyn Williams RBI single to make it 1-0.

A sacrifice fly by Leitch and a Micah Pries RBI double made it 3-0 after two.

Leitch knocked in one more in the fourth. The catcher smacked a 101-mph single to left-center to plate Williams and increase KC’s lead to 4-0.

“I was trying to get something up both times,” Leitch said. 

Winnipeg (37-50) plated a run back in the sixth off a Ramon Bramasco single to cut the lead to 4-1.

McMahon surrendered a one-out single by Max Murphy, but worked a 3-6-3 double play to earn the win for KC.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs continue their three-game series with the Goldeyes on Wednesday night at 6:35 pm.

He’s Back: Star Outfielder Isiah Gilliam Returning To Monarchs

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — One of the best players in Partner League baseball is returning to the Kansas City Monarchs.

Isiah Gilliam, who was the top hitter in the American Association before leaving for the Mexican League in June, is back with the Monarchs, the team announced Monday.

Gilliam is expected to be in the lineup for the Monarchs’ series opener with Winnipeg Monday night at 6:35 p.m.

“I have a great bond with this team. It’s a fun group of guys, an amazing staff. I just want to do my part for the team,” Gilliam said. “Hopefully we can hit a new stride an give ’em hell towards the end of the season.”

At the time of his departure, Gilliam led the AAPB with a .389 batting average, .478 on-base percentage and .770 slugging percentage. His 1.248 OPS ranked nearly 100 points above second place in the league.

Gilliam was on a tear leading up to his signing. Over his final 10 games with Kansas City, Gilliam hit .465 with a 1.445 OPS, four home runs and 13 RBIs.

“We’re getting a really good player back, a really good person back,” Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra said. “Isiah Gilliam wants to be here; he’s proud to be a Monarch. He’s part of our family, and we’re thrilled to welcome him back.”

The former Yankees, Reds and Mariners prospect signed with Tabasco in the LMB before being traded to Durango later in the season. He posted a .239 batting average and .755 OPS across 28 games in Mexico this season.

Gilliam, 28, was a 20th-round draft pick by the Yankees in 2015 out of Chipola College in Florida. He reached Double-A with the Yankees before moving to the Reds as a free agent and cracking Triple-A in 2022.

The Georgia native became a Mariners prospect for the 2023 season and put up the best season of his career: 25 home runs and an .893 OPS over 122 games between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma.

The Monarchs (51-36) clinched a playoff spot Sunday with 13 games left in the regular season. Tickets for their final weekend homestand of the year are available at Tickets.MonarchsBaseball.com.

Nogowski, Garcia Lead Monarchs To Rainy Win

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GENEVA, Ill. — John Nogowski drove in four runs, Julian Garcia threw six innings without allowing an earned run and the Kansas City Monarchs topped the Kane County Cougars 9-2 Saturday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.

Robbie Glendinning hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning for the Monarhcs, who never trailed. The game was delayed by one hour and 40 minutes after the first inning due to rain.

Garcia struck out eight batters, bringing his season total to 149, a club record. He is 18 strikeouts shy of the league strikeout record, set by former RedHawks pitcher and current Chicago White Sox reliever Tyler Alexander in 2017.

Nogowski was a triple off of the cycle in the contest, launching a solo home run in the fifth inning. It was Nogowski’s fifth home run of the season and the third of the Monarchs’ road trip.

Micah Pries and Ryan Leitch contributed RBI doubles for Kansas City in the win.

The win allows the Monarchs (51-35) to keep pace with Sioux City in the American Association West Division title race. The Explorers are four games ahead of Kansas City with 14 games to play.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs and Cougars meet for the rubber game of their three-game series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Konnor Ash will start for Kane County against Kansas City’s Josh Hendrickson.

Gambrell Shines In Return, But Cougars Snap Monarchs’ Streak

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GENEVA, Ill. — Grant Gambrell threw four scoreless innings in his return form injury, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Kansas City Monarchs’ winning streak alive.

The Kane County Cougars pulled ahead late to top the Monarchs 2-1 in the first game of their three-game series from Northwestern Medicine Field. The Monarchs, who had won four in a row, are still 5-2 on their three-city road trip.

Ross Adolph homered for the Monarchs’ only run in the top of the second. The 394-foot shot was his sixth of the season.

Gambrell allowed just three hits and one walk in his four innings of work. He struck out three in his first outing in exactly one month.

Patrick Pridgen took over on the mound, retiring the first six batters he faced.

Kane County broke through in the seventh inning. Claudio Finol hit an RBI double to tie the score and came around with the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Josh Allen.

Kansas City pitchers threw a combined 25 straight scoreless innings before the seventh inning Friday, a streak dating back to Tuesday night’s game at Milwaukee.

Jack Fox threw six innings of one-run baseball to set the tone for the Cougars. Zach Veen, Casey Crosby and Jake Gozzo each put up zeroes in the final three innings.

UP NEXT

Game two between the Monarchs and Cougars is scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Julian Garcia will take the mound for the first time since setting the Monarchs’ single-season strikeout record. Westin Muir will get the ball for Kane County. Fans can tune in on The Bet KC 1660 AM and the Audacy app.

Former Royal Jake Brentz Returns To Monarchs

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A former Royal is returning to the Kansas City Monarchs. Jake Brentz, a back-end bullpen arm who signed with the Chicago Cubs earlier this season, is returning to the four-time league champions. 

Brentz will be available out of the bullpen for the Monarchs’ game with Kane County Friday night at 6:30 p.m. 

Brentz was one of the Monarchs’ top relievers to start the 2025 season, striking out 17 batters and walking just five over 12.1 innings of work. He also impressed with his stuff, averaging 95.7 mph on his fastball, the best mark among left-handers in the American Association at the time of his departure.

“Jake Brentz is a guy with big-league experience, a great presence on the mound, and outstanding stuff from the left side,” Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra said. “We’re excited to have him back in our bullpen.”

The St. Louis County native signed with the Monarchs leading up to the 2025 season. He first heard about the team when working out at Legends Field when it served as the Royals alternate site during the 2020 pandemic season. 

Brentz, a St. Louis County native, owns 85 MLB strikeouts across 80 big-league appearances, all with the Royals. He led the team with 72 appearances in 2021, producing a 3.66 ERA and striking out 10.7 batters per nine innings. 

Originally an 11th-round draft pick by Toronto out of Parkway South High School, Brentz has played 196 MiLB games with four organizations. 

The Monarchs (50-34) sit in second place in the American Association West with 16 games to play. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games and are 5-1 on their current road trip. They return to Legends Field Monday night against Winnipeg for Bark at the Park night. 

 

Monarchs Shut Out Milwaukee For Second Straight Night

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FRANKLIN, Wis. — Another dominant pitching performance locked up a series sweep for the Kansas City Monarchs Thursday night.

Ashton Goudeau threw six scoreless innings as the Monarchs shut out Milwaukee 2-0 from Franklin Field. The Monarchs allowed just three total runs in the three-game series, throwing 19 straight scoreless innings to finish the set.

BOX SCORE

Goudeau struck out six batters and allowed just three hits and two walks to earn the win. Steffon Moore, Cruz Noriega and Hunter McMahon each threw scoreless innings to bring the game home.

Kansas City (50-34) gained another game on first-place Sioux City in the American Association West Division standings. The Monarchs are four games back of the Explorers with 16 games to play. (Sioux City owns the tiebreaker).

Kansas City manufactured both of their runs. Micah Pries scored on a passed ball in the top of the first to make it 1-0. Pries stole four bases Thursday, doubling his season total in his 26th game with Kansas City.

Jorge Bonifacio scored on a Robbie Glendinning sacrifice fly in the sixth to provide insurance. Bonifacio went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to six games. Four of those games were multi-hit efforts.

Milwaukee brought the tying run to first base against McMahon in the ninth, but diving stops from Alvaro Gonzalez at third base and John Nogowski at first ended the threat.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs head to Kane County to take on the Cougars in a three-game weekend series starting Friday night. Grant Gambrell will return from injury to start Friday’s game against Kane County’s Jack Fox. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Facebook Live and AABaseball.TV.

Blake Goldsberry

Goldsberry Throws Eight Shutout, Monarchs Blank Milwaukee

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FRANKLIN, Wis. — Blake Goldsberry threw eight scoreless innings, Micah Pries hit his fourth home run in three games and the Kansas City Monarchs cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Milwaukee Milkmen Wednesday night from Franklin Field.

Goldsberry allowed just four hits, all singles. He struck out six without allowing a walk in his longest outing of the season.

“I felt like I was getting ahead super early,” Goldsberry said. “They were really aggressive, and [catcher Ryan] Leitch and I caught on to that quick and got a lot of quick outs.”

BOX SCORE

Pries launched a two-run home run a three-run top of the fourth, his 10th of the season. The Monarchs’ leadoff hitter went 2-for-5 with the home run, a stolen base and an outfield assist.

Kansas City took the lead in the first on an RBI double from Alvaro Gonzalez. Ryan Leitch delivered an RBI single to make it 2-0 in the fourth, two batters before Pries’ homer.

“Ryan’s a super great clubhouse guy; everybody loves him,” Goldsberry said. “We’ve only got closer as the year’s gone on. I feel like we’re on the same page at all times.”

Milkmen starter Chase Gearing left the game after six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Yoyner Fajardo scored Kansas City’s fifth run in the seventh on a ground ball by John Nogowski.

Hunter McMahon got the final three outs for Kansas City, touching 97 on his fastball.

“We hit a little bit of a slump a couple of weeks ago, and we’re coming out of it,” Goldsberry said. “We’re dangerous right now, especially offensively. It’s a great place to be right now.”

UP NEXT

The Monarchs go for the sweep Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. Jhordany Mezquita will start for Milwaukee against Kansas City’s Ashton Goudeau. Fans can hear the game on The Bet KC 1660 AM and the Audacy app. See the Monarchs’ full schedule here.