Gambrell Guides Monarchs To Labor Day Dub

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Grant Gambrell and the Kansas City Monarchs closed their regular season on a high note.

The Monarchs scored three unanswered runs to beat the Cleburne Railroaders 3-1 on Labor Day at Legends Field. Yoyner Fajardo’s go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning made the difference.

Gambrell (2-2) earned the win with a dominant four innings in relief, striking out three.

“I felt like I had command over my pitches early,” Gambrell said. “We have a good defense behind me and our offense did very well.”

Fajardo’s two-run knock was enough to get Kansas City over the line. Kansas City’s center fielder splintered a ground-ball single to center to hand the Monarchs a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. Fajardo delivered six RBIs in the final series of the season.

“That was huge. It gave us some breathing room going late into the game,” Gambrell said.

Gambrell kept the Railroaders off the board in a tie ballgame. The former Triple-A arm kept the lead intact by escaping a jam with runners on the corner in the eighth inning.

“I keep reverting back to having trust in my defense,” Gambrell said. “[Catcher Ryan] Leitch picked me up a lot of times back there. I’m thankful to have a defense willing to work as hard as they do.”

Cleburne (43-57) took a 1-0 lead off an RBI fielder’s choice in the top of the fourth inning. It was the only run off Monarchs starter Jackson Goddard, who struck out eight over four innings.

Leitch demolished a game-tying solo home run for the Monarchs (59-41) in the bottom of the fourth.

Monarchs’ reliever Jeff Hakanson delivered his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Monarchs enter their postseason series against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks with three consecutive wins.

“I’m excited, I’m looking forward to having a few games here at home,” Gambrell said. “Hopefully our fans will show out for us, and we’ll have some fun.”

UP NEXT

The Monarchs begin their quest for the Miles Wolff Cup on Wednesday, September 3rd at Newman Outdoor Field. Game one of a best-of-three-series begins at 6:30 pm. Fans can listen on The Bet KC 1660 AM and the Audacy App.