MONARCHS TOWER OVER CLEBURNE, 8-1

September 3, 2021

CLEBURNE, Texas – The Kansas City Monarchs (66-31) took game one from the Cleburne Railroaders (54-43) in the first game of the final away series of the 2021 regular season. Lefty and Lee’s Summit native Matt Hall spun six innings of three hit ball with 10 strike outs to set the tone for Kansas City.

Gaby Guerrero got the offense started in Cleburne, hitting a solo home run in the top of the first. The Monarchs began the second inning with a single by Paulo Orlando, followed by a Kevin Santa base hit. Charcer Burks singled to load the bases, and an RBI single by Daniel Wasinger brought Orlando home. Santa came in after Orlando, thanks to an error on the centerfielder Zach Nehrir.  Morgan McCullough’s bat also heated up with an RBI single to score Burks and Wasinger, giving the Monarchs a towering lead early 4-0.

Cleburne responded in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run by Cleburne star D.J. Peterson to get on the board, 5-1. It was the only run allowed by Matt Hall on the night.

In the top of the seventh, Morgan McCullough kept the offense hot with an RBI single to bring Kevin Santa home and extend the lead 6-1. An inning later, Casey Gillaspie launched a solo home run, bringing the lead to 7-1 off reliever Brendan Bell.

Ryan Grotjohn finished the night with a sac fly to left field that scored Charcer Burks in the ninth and gave the first-place Monarchs the 8-1 win.

Hall has now worked 12 innings for the Monarchs in two starts surrendering just one run with 17 strike outs. The Monarchs will meet the Cleburne Railroaders again tomorrow night; first pitch is 7:06 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

 

WP: Matt Hall (2-0) 

LP: Kevin Hilton (0-2)

Box Score

Post season tickets can be purchased by calling (913) 328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com/tickets. For additional media requests, media members may contact the Monarchs’ Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to MonarchsBaseball.com and the Monarchs social media pages for updates throughout the season.

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