By Nolan Brooks, Kansas City Monarchs

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A three-homer fourth inning for the Kansas City Monarchs (25-15) was the difference in an 8-3 rubber-game win over the Chicago Dogs (21-19) at Legends Field Sunday afternoon.

Monarchs starting pitcher Brandon Finnegan had his best start of the season. Finnegan threw seven innings, tying his season high. The former Kansas City Royal allowed only one run on four hits and tallied six strikeouts.

Have a game, Brandon! 🔥#ChaseTheCrown pic.twitter.com/azdm2BOfrw

— Kansas City Monarchs (@kscitymonarchs) June 25, 2023

The Monarchs are now tied for first place in the West Division with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks.

Jan Hernandez had a bounce-back game of his own. Hernandez finished 2-for-5 including a solo home run and two RBIs.

Dylan Rosa and Olivier Basabe hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to help Kansas City pull away.

❌ Back-to-back homers as Basabe sends one over the wall!

🌭 Dogs: 0 👑 Monarchs: 4 🔽4️⃣#ChaseTheCrown ⚾️👑 pic.twitter.com/behaL1HscR

— Kansas City Monarchs (@kscitymonarchs) June 25, 2023

The game started out as a pitchers duel. Both teams were held scoreless until the third inning.

Chris Herrmann started the scoring for the Monarchs with an RBI single. It was 1-0 Monarchs after three innings.

Rosa hit his second homer in as many games with a two-run shot in the fourth. Basabe followed him with his own solo home run. Hernandez smashed his first homer since June 13 and it was 5-0 Monarchs after four.

Luke Mangieri hit a solo home run in the fifth to put the Dogs on the board. That homer made it 5-1 Monarchs after five.

The Monarchs would score three more in the sixth inning. An RBI from Hernandez, a ground out from Adolfo that scored a run, and a Gavin Collins RBI made it 8-1 Monarchs through six innings.

Trey Jeans and Patrick Weigel entered to close the door on the Dogs in the eighth and ninth innings.

A ninth-inning two-run homer from David Maberry brought the game to its final score.

Finnegan got the win (3-1) and Ryan O’Reilly got the loss (2-5).

UP NEXT: The Monarchs begin a three-game road series versus the Kane County Cougars. Game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.