KANSAS CITY, Kansas – Jason Rogers hit two homers – including a grand slam – and drove in five, and the ‘Dogs beat the Kansas City Monarchs, 11-5, for a third consecutive victory on Friday night.
Rogers hit two homers, Josh Altmann had another, and the ‘Dogs hit three homers and scored double-digit runs for the second consecutive night.
Lincoln (37-42) opened the game with a four-run 1st inning. Ryan Long doubled in Rayder Ascanio to open the scoring, and Altmann’s three-run homer made it 4-0 early.
Kansas City (47-31) answered with Jacob Robson’s solo homer in the bottom of the 1st.
The ‘Dogs restored the four-run lead with Altmann’s sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning, and Kansas City got the run back on Jan Hernandez’s RBI single in the home-half of the inning.
Kansas City got within two runs on J.C. Escarra’s RBI groundout in the 5th. Matt Adams hit a leadoff homer to make it 5-4 in the 7th.
The first of Rogers’s two homers came with one out in the 8th and restored Lincoln’s two-run lead, but Adams hit an RBI single in the bottom-half to make it 6-5.
The ‘Dogs opened up the game with a five-run 9th inning. Ascanio added a run on an RBI single, and Rogers hit a grand slam two outs and a full count against Jameson McGrane.
Garett Delano allowed three runs in four-plus innings, while newly acquired reliever R.J. Freure earned the win in his ‘Dogs debut after tossing two scoreless innings. Matt Cronin allowed one run in 1 and 1/3 innings, while Steffon Moore needed just 10 pitches in a 1-2-3 9th inning.
The ‘Dogs have won three straight games for the first time since June 19-22.
The series continues Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., and pregame coverage begins at 5:30 on ESPN Lincoln 101.5 FM/1480 AM.
The Saltdogs are playing their 21st season in Lincoln! Visit saltdogs.com and follow us @saltdogsball on all social media for information regarding tickets and promotions all season long.