KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- The Kansas City T-Bones were down to their final two outs, trailing by four in the ninth inning before they scored six times and stunned Lincoln with a 14-12 win Friday night at Haymarket Park.
It appeared the Saltdogs had the game wrapped up after they scored three in the bottom of the eighth and took a 12-8 lead. But with one out and nobody on base, Kansas City attacked former T-Bones reliever Jhonny Montoya (1-1) for five runs during a six-run inning.
The T-Bones got RBI hits from Nick Schwaner, Brian Erie, Robby Kuzdale and T.J. Mittelstaedt. Kansas City scored the sixth run of the inning on a wild pitch by reliever Jake Meiers on an intentional walk attempt to Matt Padgett, scoring Mittelstaedt from third.
Kris Regas (14) picked up the save and ended the game with a 1-4-3 double play.
Kansas City starting pitcher Casey Barnes didn't factor into the decision, but struggled for his second consecutive start as he allowed eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings.
It was the second consecutive start in which Barnes allowed eight runs in 5 innings or less. Lincoln got the scoring started Friday with two runs in the first inning on a two-run single from Jon Gaston, who finished the game with two home runs and five RBIs in his first game since June 14.
The T-Bones, down 2-0, scratched across seven runs in the third inning, capped by Erie’s two-run single and Kuzdale’s sixth homer of the season. Kuzdale has now hit safely in 13 consecutive games.
Erie, Vladimir Frias and Danny Richar all had three hits. Padgett collected his first hit and RBI in his first game back with Kansas City since the 2013 season. Bryan Sabatella stole the 300th base of his career, with a swipe of second base in the third inning.
The T-Bones (32-34) and Saltdogs (33-31) continue their series Saturday night at 7:05. The game can be heard on 1660-AM or online at tbonesbaseball.com.
