By Brian Bruce

WICHITA, Kan.-  Ray Sadler launched a two-run home run to left in the fourth inning, his 10th of the season and 200th of his 13-year professional career, but the T-Bones were unable to overcome an early deficit and dropped the opener to the Wingnuts, 4-2, at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Wednesday evening.

After the Wingnuts scored two runs in the first on four singles, and one in the second on three singles against T-Bones starter Devin Anderson, Sadler swung the T-Bones back in it in the fourth and reached the milestone in the process. His career includes one Major League home run against Noah Lowry of the San Francisco Giants in May 2005. The other 199 have come in the minors over a lengthy and successful career. His fourth inning shot made it 3-2 Wichita.

Anderson, who took the loss and dropped to 3-5, settled in and pitched scoreless third, fourth, and fifth innings before being removed. His final line was five innings, three runs, nine hits, four walks and seven strikeouts. Right-hander Sean Toler pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings in relief.

Nine-year Major League lefty Nate Robertson, a Wingnuts co-owner, started the game for Wichita. He threw three scoreless frames, allowing only one hit while striking out two and walking one.

Wichita tacked one run on the board in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by leadoff man Ryan Khoury off of T-Bones right-hander Jake Wiley. His base hit gave the Wingnuts a 4-2 lead heading into the top of the ninth.

The loss, Kansas City’s fifth straight, drops the T-Bones to 27-26. The finale of the six-game road trip and two-game series at Wichita is set for a 7:05 start on Thursday evening. Kansas City will send right-hander Brian Grening (5-3; 3.52 ERA) to the mound for his 11th start. Catch the play-by-play on the KMBZ Business Channel (1660 AM) or online at www.tbonesbaseball.com, with the pre-game show set to begin at 6:40.