Monarchs Stalled Offensively, Fall In Rubber Match
Kansas City, KS –– It was a Sunday afternoon matinee between two quality teams, but Milwaukee defeated Kansas City, 6-2, to give the Monarchs a series loss.
The Milkmen jumped in front right from the opening frame with three runs. Michael Hallquist led off with a double followed by an RBI single from Charlie Marion. Three batters later, Andy Blake registered an RBI single while Yordys Valdes drove in a run on a double. It was not the start the Monarchs were looking for and had to respond.
They did just that in the bottom half of the inning as Nick Martini started his day with a single. It was Saul Garza who stepped on the scene with an RBI double for his 25th this season.
Delvin Perez opened up his afternoon with a single and eventually crossed home plate for the fourth run in the second inning.
Austin Hansen made his seventh start on the bump for KC and threw eight K’s. After that first inning, he really settled into his zone and mixed up his slider and fastball extremely well.
Milwaukee would continue to add runs as Hallquist was at it again with an RBI single in the seventh inning followed by a RBI walk from Chase Waddell in the eighth frame. It was a 6-1 advantage for the Milkmen and KC was searching for any sort of life.
They got some energy back with a solo homer from the hometown kid, Marcus Smith, in the bottom half of the eighth. It was his seventh homer of the season and he said, “(It) was really just getting my foot down early. I chased the change-up, watched the slider, and got in the middle. Had a fastball that gets on you a little bit, so I was trying to calm myself down (and) not get too excited. Just put something in play, wanted to get something going.”
Unfortunately the Monarchs were held to six hits and the Milkmen threw some timely strikeouts to give them another series win. The Monarchs have a big series coming up on Tuesday when they welcome the second place, Sioux Falls Canaries, to town. First pitch is scheduled at 6:35 at Legends Field.
