August 22, 2021
By: Jack Johnson

 Kansas City, Kan. — After taking the first two games of the series against Milwaukee, the Monarchs saved their best game for last as Morgan McCullough smacked a walk-off double to win 4-3 and sweep the Milkmen.

Coming into the day, the Milkmen remained atop the American Association in team ERA. However, through the first two games, the pitching wasn’t as advertised. It was a different story on Sunday, though. David Holmberg, who was fourth on the team in starts, worked quick and efficiently against the Monarchs’ lineup. The left-hander opened his outing with four shutout innings and allowed just two hits.

His counterpart, Jake Matthys, was just as strong. After being pulled from his previous start with an apparent arm injury, Matthys returned to the mound with no signs of a setback. It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that Milwaukee (51-35) got to the right-hander on a solo shot by Adam Brett Walker II — breaking the scoreless tie.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kansas City (59-28) tied things back up on a two-out, RBI-single from Alexis Olmeda.

The wheels began falling off for Matthys in the top of the seventh. The 27-year-old was pulled with one out in the frame after allowing the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. Brock Gilliam entered in relief and escaped a potential disaster.

The Monarchs came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Olmeda, for the second time in the game, poked a game-tying, RBI-single to the outfield. The single gave Olmeda his first multi-hit game at Legends Field since June 12th against Houston.

The back-and-forth action ensued when the Milkmen came to the plate in the eighth. Using a small ball approach, Milwaukee re-took the lead on an RBI-single by Logan Trowbridge. Kansas City loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but came up empty on a strikeout and groundout to end the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kansas City came through off one of the top closers in the league — Nate Hadley. After a pair of singles from Colin Willis and Kevin Santa, McCullough roped a walk-off, RBI-double off the wall in center field.

Kansas City has an off-day tomorrow before beginning a three-game set at Kane County on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:00 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to all Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the Monarchs Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to monarchsbaseball.com. and the Monarchs Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.

WP: McGrane (6-1)

LP: Hadley (1-1) S: N/A

Boxscore

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