Big Third inning Allows Monarchs Sweep Over Canaries
Sioux Falls, SD — The Monarchs finished out the weekend sweeping the Canaries with an 8-6 win on a Sunday afternoon matinee at the Birdcage.
It was Sioux Falls who took an early lead in the bottom of the first as Josh Rehwaldt homered on a deep fly ball to left field and Kansas City had some work to do.
They were not phased by an early deficit as they found the equalizer in the second frame. Saul Garza led off the inning with a double and then was sent home by a Sahid Valenzuela ground ball.
The Monarchs were able to pull away early in this game due to a six-run third frame. The bats started to roll as Luken Baker smoked his second home run in as many games and now has 21 homers which is good for third in the league. The dominos started to fall as Garza walked and Valenzuela doubled. That allowed for Onix Vega to register his first homer as a Monarch and he did so with a three-run blast to left field. This team continued to produce as Hudson Head walked and then Jose Torres recorded his second bomb in a Monarchs uniform when he cranked a two-run shot to left field which finished out an incredible inning.
Sioux Falls would not go away so easily as they found a response in the bottom of the fourth. Rehwaldt doubled and then Michael Curialle belted a two-run homer to cut the lead to 6-3.
Emmanuel Chapman made his third start on the bump for Kansas City and the former Pirates product threw four K’s in three frames while allowing only one hit. KC threw a total of five pitchers today and combined for 11 K’s including three from Nate Webb and two from Durbin Feltman.
In the fifth inning, the Puerto Rican native Vega, lifted a solo smash to reestablish a five-run advantage at 8-3. He finished the afternoon with a four RBI day as it was the best outing for Vega this season on the offensive side.
The Canaries put up three more unanswered with a run in the fifth and then a Grady Mee homer in the sixth, but Kansas City held Sioux Falls scoreless for the final three innings.
With this series sweep, KC now has a 4.5 game lead on Winnipeg and they will face the Goldeyes on the road tomorrow night. This is a massive upcoming four game series as these two teams will go toe-to-toe with a 6:30 first pitch.
