Early Lead Vanishes as Saltdogs Crushed in K.C.
By Michael Dixon, Lincoln Saltdogs
KANSAS CITY, Kansas – RF Connor Panas hit a two-run homer, but the ‘Dogs lost 13-5 in the series finale against the Kansas City Monarchs on Wednesday afternoon.
Panas opened the scoring for Lincoln (8-15) in the 1st inning with his fourth homer of the year, but 1B Jan Hernandez tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom-half.
With the bases loaded and two out in the 3rd, 1B Matt Goodheart hit a fly ball to the wall in right-center that RF Dylan Rosa dropped – allowing three runs to score.
Trailing 5-2, Kansas City (15-9) scored twice in the 5th inning. SS L.J. Hatch scored on an RBI single from CF Johneshwy Fargas and Fargas later scored from third on a throwing error from Panas after a fly out in foul ground.
The Monarchs then rallied for five two-out runs in the 6th. 2B Olivier Basabe hit a two-run homer to give Kansas City a 6-5 lead and Hatch immediately followed with a solo homer to make it 7-5. Rosa later added an RBI single and LF Jacob Robson made it 9-5 with another RBI single.
Kansas City scored four more times in the 8th. Robson had an RBI single, Hernandez had a two-run single and C Gavin Collins extended his hitting streak with a run-scoring single.
LHP Tanner Brown allowed seven runs – six earned – over five and 2/3 innings. RHP R.J. Freure allowed two runs in one-third of an inning and LHP David Zoz gave up four runs in two innings of work.
The ‘Dogs now head home and will spend Thursday off before opening a season-long nine-game home stand with the first of three against the Sioux Falls Canaries on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. on KFOR FM 101.5/1240 AM.
The Saltdogs are back in 2023! Single-game tickets for all games are on sale now. Reserve your seats now by calling 402-474-BALL (2255) or order on-line at Saltdogs.com.