Baker’s Big Night Lifts Kansas City Over Fargo

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Kansas City, KS — The Monarchs started fast and never let up as it was a much needed victory to get back in the win column with a 13-8 win. Luken Baker played a huge factor as he finished the night going 2-3 with six RBI’s.

The Monarchs started red hot in the first frame as Edwin Diaz and Austin Callahan opened up the day with a base hit which was followed by a Luken Baker three-run bomb.

In the second frame, Grant Richardson doubled and then Onix Vega sent him home on a line drive into left center. It was a quick 4-0 start, but the inning did not stop there. After Diaz doubled, Callahan and Baker both had productive outs with RBI’s attached. Through two frames, it was a 6-0 lead.

Austin Krob had his best start on the mound in a Monarchs uniform. He went six innings with no runs given up and three punch outs. The Iowa native talked about his process, “It felt good, I knew if I could get ahead early at that point I could just play with the hitters and throw them off speed and off rhythm. I felt like I was good, it was more so trying to get ahead early and try and go from there. Once that happened I was successful.”

Grant Richardson could not be stopped as in the 5th inning, he roped his sixth homer in the past eight games to go with 16 in total. “Honestly the biggest thing is being able to keep the same routine every single day (and) trusting the process. Getting here going through my warmups and doing everything that I need to get myself ready for the game, I think just trusting myself at the end of the day while I am at the plate. Just making sure I am on time, I think that’s been the biggest key.”

In the 6th frame, Diaz and Callahan once again led off with hits. This brought in Baker who rocketed a ball off the top of the wall in left center field to bring in both runners for an RBI triple. Saul Garza scored Baker on a grounder up the middle followed by an RBI double from Sahid Valenzuela to record his first knock of the night.

 

The Monarchs were up by a dozen, but Fargo would not go away. In the seventh frame they scored a pair of runs highlighted by a groundout RBI from Aiden Byrne after Brian Fuentes doubled. Shortly after, Jesus Lujano sent an RBI double to score Fuentes.

In the eighth inning, Kansas City really struggled to find some command on the mound as Fargo opened the inning with two-straight walks and an RBI single from Tripp Clark. There were two more walks while Juan Fernandez reached via fielders choice and Byrne got to first via error. The Redhawks grabbed a couple more hits and just like that, this was a six-run inning and the lead was cut down to four.

Hudson Head reestablished a five-run lead as he drove his ninth homer into left field to record his second-straight game with a home run.

 

Fargo scored a run in the ninth, but it was too little too late as Tyler Myrick closed out the game.

With a Winnipeg loss, the Monarchs stand 1.5 games ahead of the Goldeyes in first place and 3.5 ahead of the Redhawks. This series is all to play for when these teams square off in the rubber match with a 1:05 first pitch tomorrow afternoon.

Monarchs Suffer Rough Loss at Home, Fargo Takes Opening Game

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Kansas City, KS — There were six combined homers, but unfortunately the Redhawks took the lead in the first and the Monarchs could not get back into the game as they fell 17-7.

Fargo took the lead right from the jump when Matt Kroon smoked a solo shot on the second batter of the game. After two singles, Dillon Thomas sliced a three-run shot and the Monarchs were quickly down 4-0.

In the bottom half of the first, Luken Baker walked and then Saul Garza belted his team-leading 16th homer of the season to cut the lead in half.

 

This was a two-run game going into the third, but the Redhawks added five tallies. There were three walks and a base hit while Aiden Byrne sent a sac fly to bring in Tripp Clark. After that, there were three-straight RBI singles capped off by a Tucupita Marcano base hit. It was a 9-2 deficit and the Monarchs found themselves in a seven-run hole.

In the bottom half of the third, Brady Lindsly walked and then Edwin Diaz laced a two-run homer into center as it was his first home run this season. He talks about this team and says, “This group is good and it feels like home, they’re a good team. Last two games were not good, but we have a good team.”

 

The Redhawks tallied a run in the fourth and then three more in the fifth. Fargo could not be stopped and was consistently bringing in runs as they finished the night with 20 total hits.

The bullpen really struggled tonight as the threw eight walks compared to only five punch outs. It was a really uncharacteristic night from this group and they will surely respond in the rest of the series.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Diaz crushed his second bomb and it was followed by Hudson Head who drove one out of the park. Diaz was a bright spot tonight for the Monarchs and they showed why they are second in the league in homers.

 

In the sixth inning, Grant Richardson cranked his fifth home run in the past seven games, but it was too little too late asm the Redhawks drove in three more run in the top of the seventh.

The Monarchs stand clear 2.5 games ahead of the Redhawks and just a .5 game above Winnipeg. It’s a must win tomorrow night to keep first place in the division and to try to even the series. There is a 6:35 pitch tomorrow at Legends Field.

Monarchs Ice Cold Offensively, Blanked by Saltdogs

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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.

Richardson’s Homer Lifts Kansas City Past Lincoln, Ties Up Series

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Kansas City, KS — It was a fast start from the Monarchs as they took the lead in the first inning and never looked back to cruise onto a 7-4 win over the Saltdogs.

Lincoln got off to a quick start when Cam Phelts opened up the game with a base hit and then Nick Shumpert walked. After a double steal, Jake Hjelle grounded out into an RBI to take an early Saltdog lead.

The Monarchs wasted no time orchestrating a response as Sahid Valenzuela was hit by a pitch and Luken Baker walked. That brought up Grant Richardson and for the second-straight game, he belted a three-run shot to left field. This is Richardson’s fourth homer in his past six outings and the Indiana native has been on fire as of recent.

 

Phelts led off the third inning with a bunt single and for the second-consecutive time, Hjelle brought him home on a groundout. Lincoln would not go away and cut the lead down to one.

In the bottom half of the third, KC had another three-run frame up their sleeve when Saul Garza walked and then was sent home off an error from the shortstop, Shumpert. Later in the inning, Wilfred Veras blooped a ball into shallow center field that brought in both Edwin Diaz and Hudson Head. The Monarchs had their largest lead at 6-2.

Just when the Monarchs would reestablish a lead, the Saltdogs would not go away as Cary Arbolida and Connor Bagnieski led off the fourth inning with a hit. Calvyn Halvorson grounded into an RBI and then Griffin Everitt produced a base hit that brought in Bagnieski. It was 6-4 through four frames.

Geison Urbaez made his fifth start on the bump and went six innings while giving up seven hits, but punched in five K’s. One of the most impressive pitchers out of the pen was the Platte City native, Sawyer Allen. He went two innings with a strikeout, but shutdown this Saltdog team as he allowed no hits and runs. Allen talks about the group and says, “I think it’s a big win, after a loss like that yesterday it’s good to get back into the win column. Just to be able to hopefully improve and keep winning till the playoffs.”

The Final tally of the night came in the sixth as Onix Vega recorded his first hit as a Monarch with a double into center field and then Valenzuela brought him home after Arbolida misjudged a fly ball. Kansas City continued to get it done on the defensive side and Tyler Myrick recorded his team leading sixth save.

 

This is a 1-1 series and the rubbermatch is set to take place at 6:35 tomorrow night.

Monarchs Allow Eight Runs in Final Two Innings, Suffer Loss to Lincoln

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Kansas City, KS – The Monarchs had the lead for seven innings, but the Saltdogs came storming back to win 12-9 and stole the first game of the series.

This Monarch team got the bats rolling right from the get-go in the first inning. After Sahid Valenzuela singled, Luken Baker smoked a two-run shot to take an early lead. The inning kept rolling with a  Hudson Head walk, a JD Davis base hit, and that allowed Grant Richardson to belt his third homer in his past five outings. It was 5-0 in the blink of an eye.

 

The momentum carried into the second frame after Valenzuela got on base and Baker doubled. Later in the inning, Richardson was right on cue with a two-run RBI single to jump into a seven-run advantage. It was all Monarchs to open up the game.

 

Lincoln found some life in the fourth inning as as they collected three-straight base hits capped off by a Cary Arbolida RBI. Two batters later, Calvyn Halvorson lined a single to bring in Arbolida and the lead was cut to 7-3.

In the bottom half of the frame, Baker wasted no time when he drilled his second homer of the night. The first baseman says, “I feel like I am in a good spot swinging the ball and getting good pitches to hit. I am hitting them well.”

 

After Kansas City scored another run in the seventh on a Wilfred Veras RBI, this was a 9-4 game going into the eighth and thats when it all changed. The Saltdogs made something out of nothing when Jake Hjelle singled and then two walks later had the bases loaded with Halvorson up. The shortstop sent a line drive into right field to score three runners and cut the lead down to two. After Tanner O’Tremba drew a walk, Cam Phelts grabbed a knock to bring home two runners and tie the game. The momentum continued as Nick Shumpert drove in Phelts while collecting a triple which gave Lincoln the lead for the first time in the contest.

 

In the final inning, Connor Bagnieski rocketed a two-run blast into center field and the Monarchs couldn’t rally back in the ninth. Baker talked about the night as a whole and said, “Outside of that one big blow up inning, we felt we played our brand of baseball. Just clean up a couple things, we will come back tomorrow and we are a good team, we trust we’re good. We will play better tomorrow.”

KC still stands 2.5 games ahead of Winnipeg for first place. They will have an opportunity to tie up this series tomorrow night at Legends Field with a scheduled 6:35 first pitch.

Callahan’s Big Day Propels Monarchs to Series Sweep

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Chicago, IL — After trailing in both games, the Monarchs jumped in front early and went on to win 11-4 to complete the sweep over the Dogs on Sunday afternoon.

It was as quick of a start as you could ask for as the Monarchs took the lead on the second pitch of the game and never looked back. Facing a 0-1 count, Austin Callahan cranked a ball into deep right field to put Kansas City in front. The leadoff hitter set the tone for the day and would go on to have quite the afternoon.

The Monarchs continued the momentum in the second frame when Saul Garza was hit by a pitch and then Grant Richardson belted his second homer in back-to-back games. It’s a welcome sight to see that Richardson is returning to his early season form as KC is getting some much needed production out of their left fielder.

 

This was a 3-0 game going into the fourth inning and the Monarchs quickly put the contest out of reach. Richardson and JD Davis walked and with two outs, Kansas City needed to make something happen. In the top of the order, Callahan lined one into right field to bring home both runners, but the inning did not stop there. Sahid Valenzuela walked and with Callahan on second, that brought up Luken Baker. He read the 0-1 pitch to perfection and nuked a three-run bomb to finish off a five-run frame. It was 8-0 and the Monarchs had total control.

 

Chicago finally broke through in the sixth inning when they had two runners on and then Aaron Altherr grounded a ball on the right side to bring in Jacob Maiben and Ethan Wilder. Shortly after, Giovanni DiGiacomo put a ball down the third base line and scored Altherr, but it was too little too late.

After his last outing on the bump, Austin Krob responded in a big way with a five strikeout performance while giving up three runs in three hits. He held the Dogs scoreless for five-straight innings and other than the sixth frame, he was perfect on the mound. Jeff Hakanson relieved him and tallied two K’s as the bullpen threw five total pitchers this afternoon.

Kansas City tacked on three more runs in the third after Richardson walked, Davis was hit by a pitch, and Brady Lindsly collected a hit. Trevor Boone was hit by a pitch that brought in Richardson and then Callahan reached base via fielder’s choice and Davis crossed home plate. It was yet another RBI for Callahan as he finished the day 2-6 with two runs and four RBI’s. Valenzuela would go on to register his first knock of the afternoon on an RBI single.

The Dogs scored a run in the ninth, but the Monarchs already had a commanding lead. With this series sweep, KC now has a three game lead on Fargo in the West Division. They will have an opportunity to add to that lead when they return back to Legends Field for a six-game home stand starting Tuesday night. The Monarchs will welcome the Lincoln Saltdogs to Kansas City for the first time this season and then face Fargo to finish out the stand. First pitch with Lincoln will be at 6:35.

Kansas City Scores Eight Unanswered, Takes Series From the Dogs

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Chicago, IL — After surrendering an early 6-1 deficit, the Monarchs came storming back with eight runs in the middle three frames to win 9-6 on Saturday night at Impact Field.

Despite giving up six-straight runs, Kansas City got out to an early 1-0 lead in the first as Austin Callahan opened up the game with a double. Luken Baker brought him home on a ground ball into center field. The Houston, TX native has shown no signs of slowing down and has registered an RBI in four of the past five outings.

 

The Dogs wasted no time cultivating a response as they put up three tallies in the bottom of the first. The leadoff batter, Jacob Maiben, tripled on a ball into center field while Ethan Wilder walked. This brought in Chance Sisco who smacked a three-run homer to give Chicago the lead.

KC really struggled to slow down the Dogs in the opening three innings as they continued to stack up runs. The second innings opened up with three consecutive hits and in the blink of an eye, the bases were loaded with one out. Sisco grounded out into an RBI to bring home Cooper Weiss. In the third inning, Tyrique Reed smoked a two-run jack and just like that, the Monarchs were down five runs and needed to act quickly.

That is exactly what they did as just an inning later, they put up a four-run fourth frame. Baker started off with a walk and then Saul Garza followed it up with a knock into left field. On the first pitch he saw, Hudson Head belted a three-run bomb to cut the lead to two. It was a momentum shifting moment for the Monarchs and they did not stop there. JD Davis grabbed a base hit and then was later brought home by newly acquired, Wilfred Veras, when he grounded out to grab his first RBI as a Monarch and cut the lead to 6-4. The former White Sox product will certainly be a big help to Kansas City on both sides of the ball and has a bright future at Legends Field.

 

Former Twin, Darren McCaughan got the start on the mound and gave up nine hits and six runs. It was not his best outing, but he is a talented pitching who will certainly respond in his next game. The bright spot out of the bullpen was the Lee’s Summit native, Nate Webb. The right-hander had a terrific command on the bump and was locating the zone left and right. He only allowed two hits and finished his day with a season-high six strikeouts. Webb shut down this Dogs attack to make room for the Monarchs offense to flourish.

In the fifth frame, Baker singled and then Saul Garza gave Kansas City the first lead of the night with his 15th homer to tie Trevor Boone in that category. The sixth inning came around and the Monarchs kept on swinging. This team showed why its second in the league in home runs as just two pitches later, Davis and Grant Richardson connected on back-to-back home runs to put Kansas City in front by three.

 

Wyatt Wendell earned his first save in a Kansas City uniform and the Monarchs completed the comeback for the second-straight night. With a series win, this team will look to complete a sweep over Chicago with a 3 o’clock first pitch tomorrow afternoon.