LINCOLN – Kansas City T-Bones (40-28) starting pitcher Scott Carroll took a no-hit bid to the seventh inning and the Lincoln Saltdogs (44-24) lost 9-2 to the T-Bones in front of 5,024 fans at Haymarket Park on Friday night.
It was a role reversal from the night before in which the Saltdogs defeated Kansas City 14-4. KC pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone on Thursday, but that’s all Carroll could hit on Friday. The former Chicago White Sox pitcher allowed two runs on just four hits over eight innings of work. He struck out seven batters on the way to his seventh win of the season.
Saltdogs starter Cesilio Pimentel ran into early trouble in the top of the second inning. The first three batters in the inning recorded hits and the fourth reached on a walk. A hit by pitch and sacrifice fly continued Kansas City’s strong inning as the grabbed a 3-0 lead.
The T-Bones added another run in the fifth. Cedric Hunter started the inning with a double and moved to third base after a Marcus Lemon notched his second bunt single of the game. Kevin Keyes sent Hunter home on a sacrifice fly in the next at bat.
The T-Bones put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth. Leo Rojas began the frame with a single to bring up Jerome Pena. The switch hitter bounced a ground ball to third baseman Tommy Mendonca who made a poor throw to second base which let Rojas advance to third. After the error, Zane Chavez hit a grounder towards first base where Nathaniel Maggio hesitated before throwing home. His throw did not beat the streaking Rojas and everyone was safe. KC went on to score five unearned runs on four hits to build their lead to 9-0.
The Saltdogs managed just two baserunners through six innings. They broke through in the seventh against Carroll. Matty Johnson doubled down the right field line Curt Smith singled him home two batters later.
Lincoln scored another run in the eighth. Joe Robbins notched a double to start the inning. After a fly out, Dashenko Ricardo knocked a base hit that scored Robbins to make it 9-2.
Fabio Martinez, J.R. Bunda and Dimitri Kourtis combined to throw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief.
The T-Bones moved to three games back of the Saltdogs in the Central Division standings after Friday night. The teams play their final two games against each other on Saturday and Sunday.
Derek Gordon (7-2, 2.77) gets the start for the Saltdogs on Saturday. First pitch is at 6:45 PM with coverage beginning at 6:15 PM on ESPN 1480 and saltdogs.com.
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