Monarchs Earn Second Straight Walk-Off Victory as Hernandez Goes Deep
KANSAS CITY, KAN – KANSAS CITY, KAN – It was home runs to left field, right field, and center field as the Kansas City Monarchs (17-11) and Winnipeg Goldeyes (11-16) combined for seven long balls Sunday afternoon at Legends Field in KCK. It was the final blast, a two-run home run by Jan Hernandez, that was the difference in a 9-8 win for the Monarchs. It was deja vu with Hernandez delivering a walk-off dinger a day after Casey Gillaspie’s own walk-off two-run home run in Saturdays 5-3 win over Winnipeg.
The Monarchs took an early lead at 2-0 with a two-run home run from Morgan McCullough in the second inning.
The Goldeyes’ Max Murphy earned an RBI in the fourth before Winnipeg took the lead in the sixth with a two-run home run from Martin, bringing the score to 3-2.
The Monarchs answered right away in a day of two-run home runs as Casey Gillaspie got one for himself in the bottom of the sixth to help the Monarchs take back the lead at 4-3.
Winnipeg came back in the seventh inning with a home run from Logan Hill, accompanied by a triple from Tyler Hill that brought in three runs for the Goldeyes, but they weren’t done as Murphy earned his second RBI of the night, putting them back up by four at 8-4.
The Monarchs were not going to take it lying down as Darnell Sweeney continued the scoring in the bottom of the seventh with yet another two-run home run, shortening the lead to 8-6.
Gaby Guerrero joined the home run club in the eighth inning, the score 8-7 going into the ninth.
The rest is history—with Ryan Grotjohn on first, two outs the first pitch for Hernandez, he launched the ball into left field.
“[Grotjohn’s] been doing fabulous for us, all the guys, they’re believing in themselves and what we’re doing,” Manager Joe Calfapietra said.
With a win on Father’s Day, Calfapietra got choked up talking about his team.
“I love my kids, and I have 25 of them out there, and my two girls know that,” he said.
WP: Ramsey Romano (1-0)
LP: Jose Jose (0-1)
S: N/A
The Monarchs begin a seven game road trip starting Monday night in Franklin, Wisconsin against the Milwaukee Milkmen. Game time is 6:35 p.m. and can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:10 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.
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By Dan Vaughan, Kansas City Monarchs
