LINCOLN, Nebraska – Curt Smith hit a two-run homer, but the ‘Dogs couldn’t fully recover from a slow start in a 10-6 loss to the Kansas City Monarchs at Haymarket Park on Tuesday night.
Smith’s two-run homer made it 10-6 in the 7th inning, but Lincoln (28-28) fell behind 8-2 after two innings and Kansas City (35-19) snapped the ‘Dogs’ four-game winning streak.
Keenan Bartlett allowed a season-high nine runs on 10 hits over four innings, while the Lincoln bullpen allowed just one run over the final five innings. Walter Borkovich gave up a solo homer but nothing more over three innings in his first relief outing, while Tyler Anderson went 1-2-3 in 8th and Josh Norwood pitched a 1-2-3 9th.
Lincoln fell behind 2-0 in the 1st before Justin Byrd halved the deficit with a leadoff homer in the bottom-half of the inning. The Monarchs had two outs and nobody on the in 2nd before three consecutive walks started a six-run rally. Ryan Grotjohn had an RBI single and Jan Hernandez hit a three-run double. Casey Gillaspie made it 8-1 with a two-run triple.
The ‘Dogs got runs on sacrifice flies from Skyler Weber in the 2nd and Curt Smith in the 3rd, but Kansas City answered with Gillaspie’s RBI single in the 4th.
Charcer Burks hit his first homer of the year in the 7th, and Curt answered with his two-run shot in the bottom-half.
Ryan Long went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to seven, while Byrd extended his hitting streak to six games and Vidal extended his to four. Smith now has this in five straight and Yanio Perez went 2-for-4 with an RBI – now 11-for-23 over his last five games.
The ‘Dogs and Monarchs continue the three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:35 on ESPN Lincoln 101.5 FM/1480 AM.
The Saltdogs are celebrating their 20th season at Haymarket Park this season! All ticket and promotional information can be viewed at saltdogs.com.