T-Bones take down JackHammers at Silver Cross
JOLIET — The Kansas City T-Bones (28-34) scored three runs in the first inning to secure an early lead they used to cruise to a 7-3 win over the Joliet JackHammers (24-40) before 4,889 fans at Silver Cross Field on Sunday night.
Against Joliet LHP Ryan Gehring (3-7), 2B Aharon Eggleston led off the game with a double. 1B Damian Rolls grounded out and RF Greg Jacobs singled Eggleston to third base. A walk to C Craig Hurba loaded the bases for 2B Neb Brown, who lined out to second base. LF Ryan Fox smacked a two-run single to score Eggleston and Jacobs. DH Jim Fasano hit a single to score Hurba.
The T-Bones added a single run in the fifth inning. 3B Jacob Blackwood singled and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by SS Jeff Helps. A single by Eggleston scored Blackwood from second base for a 4-0 lead.
The JackHammers scored their first run of the game in the fourth inning. LF Brad Correll led off the inning with a single and moved to second base on a wild pitch issued by Kansas City LHP Luis Villarreal (4-3). DH Kyle Nichols flew out to left field. A single by RF Joe Gaetti scored Correll to get Joliet on the board.
Joliet tacked on another run in the fifth inning. C Tug Gillingham hit a one-out single and moved to second base on a groundout by SS Kevin Rios. CF Adam Klein smacked a double to plate Gillingham.
Kansas City scored three runs in the ninth inning to take a commanding 7-2 lead. Helps led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Eggleston laid down a sacrifice bunt and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Helps ended up at third base at the end of the play and the T-Bones had runners at second and third with no outs for Rolls. After a groundout by the Kansas City first baseman, Jacobs singled home Helps. Brown finished the inning with a two-run single to score both Eggleston and Jacobs.
Joliet 3B Andrew Pinckney smacked his 12th home run of the season in the ninth inning to finish the scoring at 7-3. Gehring suffered the loss by allowing four runs on 11 hits in six innings.
Loose Gravel: Rios went 0-5 to end his season-high hitting streak at 24 games. He reached base on a fielder’s choice in the ninth inning in addition to flying out three times and grounding out once.
The JackHammers start a three-game series with the Gary SouthShore RailCats on Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m.The RailCats send LHP Tony Cogan (6-5, 3.52 ERA) to the mound against RHP Jason Richardson (2-8, 5.91) for the JackHammers.
