By BRIAN BRUCE

WICHITA, Kan.-  Six different T-Bones pitchers combined for a total of twelve walks, and the KC infield committed three errors as Wichita evened the series 1-1 with a 9-4 win at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Saturday night.

The bottom of the second inning proved to be eventful. Wichita pushed three runs across on one hit and two T-Bones errors to seize an early 3-0 lead. Both errors were charged to infielders, and starting pitcher Devin Anderson and catcher Trevor Coleman were thrown out of the game by the home plate umpire for arguing a call on a play at the plate. C.J. Ziegler was ruled safe on a close play as shortstop Jose Duran threw home to Coleman. Due to the two ejections, Kansas City placed Bubby Williams behind the plate and sent right-hander Dan Kickham to the mound.

The T-Bones narrowed the lead to 3-2 in the third as Williams immediately made his mark with a two-out, two-run ground-rule double to center, scoring Justin Bass and Brandon Jones. The liner over Mitch Einertson’s head in center would have cleared the bases and tied the game, but it bounced over the center field fence on one hop and Ray Sadler was ordered to go back to third. He ended up stranded there as Kala Ka’aihue ended the inning by striking out. 

Wichita tacked on one more run in the bottom of the third on a Ziegler home run, his eighth of the season and fifth against Kansas City in five games this year. The Wingnuts scored one in the fourth, two more in the sixth, and two in the eighth, extending their lead to 9-3. Kansas City scored once in the ninth on an RBI double by Brandon Jones to left.

Along with Coleman and Anderson, left-hander Steve Kent was also ejected by the home plate umpire. He was thrown out in the eighth inning for arguing balls and strikes.

Wingnuts starter Josh Lowey (5-0) earned the win, going 5 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits while walking three and striking out six. Anderson (1-3) took the loss for KC, allowing three runs, none earned, on two hits and one walk in one inning of work.

The loss drops Kansas City to 12-14 on the season, with the third and final game of the series and road trip scheduled for 2:05 on Sunday afternoon. The T-Bones send right-hander Brian Grening (3-2; 3.68 ERA) to the mound for his sixth start of the season. Right-hander and all-time wins leader (19) Derek Blacksher (3-1; 4.21) gets the start for Wichita. Catch the play-by-play in the Kansas City market on the T-Bones’ flagship radio station, KMBZ Business Channel 1660 AM, and online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.