PROMOTIONS

T-Bones Promotions for July 18

- Chick-Fil-A Coupon Giveaway (first 1,000 fans)

- Facebook Winning Wednesdays Ticket Special! Check our Facebook page for the exclusive offer for T-Bones fans ONLY!

- Sizzle Autograph Session.

- Food & Beverage Special: $1 Hot Dogs available with the purchase of any beverage.

- Post-Game Catch on the Field by Coventry Health Care.

NEWS AND NOTES

Kenny’s Korner

On tonight’s starter Brian Grening, whose 60 strikeouts rank fourth in the America Association:

“He’s a guy that changes speeds so well. A lot of Sioux City’s guys are good fastball hitters but have shown in this series that they can struggle with off-speed pitches. I think with him knowing that and with him being a guy who prepares so hard that we will see a good outing out of him.”

On the job pitching coach Andy Shipman has done:

“He’s been exceptional. Any time we have a chance to get under a 4.00 ERA, that is exceptional in any league, with any personnel. I think the one thing that Shipman has done exceptionally with is communication as far as these guys being able to give us six, seven innings most of the time. That’s something that is typically not the case in this league, but I think a lot can be said for what happens in between their starts, the condition that they stay in, their side work and the drills that he’s working with them, and then just the strikes. I’m most happy about the ability of our starters to throw strikes. We don’t have any starter that is a guy whose command comes and goes. Typically they don’t walk people. For me as a manager, I want to see guys attacking hitters and being able to go deep in the game. Now, on the flip side of that, it’s been a battle when you have starters that are going seven or eight innings because sometimes those middle relievers don’t get a chance to stay sharp. Shipman stays on them about throwing their pens and trying to get them in live-game-situation type pens, but it’s been a battle just trying to keep everybody fine-tuned so when we do call on them they’ll be fresh.”

On recently acquired catcher Pat Trettel, who put one over the fences for his first hit as a T-Bones player on Saturday:

“So far he’s offered what I thought he would. Offensively, he can work the count and handle good pitchers. That’s evident from the at-bats he’s had. Defensively, he’s very smart, which we’ve seen, and he has great communication with our pitchers. He’s showing why we made the change and signed him.”

Garceau’s ERA has him atop the league leader board

Shaun Garceau (5-1, 2.25) did not get a win in his seventh start of the season on Friday night, despite pitching seven solid innings and leaving the game with his team ahead 6-3, but his performance was recognized by an ERA that – despite growing slightly with each start – is the best in the American Association.

Trailing Garceau on the leader board are Stephen Hiscock of Gary SouthShore with a 2.46 ERA and Matthew Rusch of Winnipeg with a 2.58 ERA.

More T-Bones players land on leader board

Righty Shaun Garceau has the lowest ERA in the league, but fellow Kansas City starter Luke Irvine is not far behind. Irvine, who recently entered the rotation after formerly pitching from the bullpen, is fifth in the American Association with an ERA of 2.73. Starter Brian Grening is fourth in the league in strikeouts with 60.

Offensively, outfielder Ray Sadler is tied for fourth in the American Association in homers with 10.

Kansas City eyes Wild Card

With the season past its halfway point, the T-Bones are in the hunt for the Wild Card berth if they don’t catch Wichita in the division race.

Kansas City is 3.5 games behind Wichita (from who they took three of four games in their last series) in the Central Division. The home-and-home series that ended Sunday marked the final games in which the T-Bones and Wingnuts faced each this year.

In the wild card race, Kansas City trails first-place Winnipeg by three games and the second-place Amarillo Sox by just one game.

Kansas City Playoff History

2004

Kansas City finished the regular season with a 48-48 record. Schaumburg eliminated the T-Bones in the first round, taking the best-of-five series 3-2. Eddie Pearson paced the T-Bones on the season, capturing the league’s MVP award.

2008

The T-Bones celebrated a Northern League championship after defeating Gary SouthShore three games to one in the championship series. Kansas City (46-50) pulled the upset of the playoffs in the semifinals, when it swept one-seed Fargo-Moorhead after sneaking in the playoffs with a 46-50 record and being the last team to make the playoffs.

2009

Gary SouthShore bounced the defending league champ Kansas City in the first round. The T-Bones qualified as the four seed, posting an identical regular season record as the previous year, 46-50.

2010

SERIES NOTES

Sizing up Sioux City

The Sioux City Explorers came to CommunityAmerica Ballpark with a record of 26-30 on the season. The Explorers are fresh off of a series split with Sioux Falls, where the Pheasants won the first two games of the four-game series and the Explorers took the final two games.

Coming into this series, Kris Sanchez led the Explorers with nine home runs and 46 RBIs. So far, he has added another homer and two more RBIs in this week’s series. Sanchez’s 48 RBIs are good for sixth place in the American Association. Catcher Ray Serrano is second on the club in three categories, boasting a .318 batting average, seven home runs and 33 RBIs.

Nick Schumacher has been the ace of the Sioux City’s staff so far this season. His five wins led the club until Tuesday’s starter Chris Bodishbaugh got his fifth win, but Schumacher’s 54 strikeouts still rank first on the team. Tonight’s starter, lefty Alain Quijano, is 2-4 on the year with a 3.19 ERA. In his last start, on July 13, he went six innings and gave up six runs on five hits while walking four.

Up Next for the T-Bones

After a three-game series with Sioux City, the T-Bones hit the road for a four-game series with the American Association-leading Grand Prairie AirHogs. The AirHogs have a record of 37-20 and have a 5.5-game lead over Amarillo in the South Division.

Grand Prairie has multiple players on the league leader board. Starter Nick DeBarr is tied for the most wins with nine on the season, while fellow starter John Brownell is in a tie for second with seven wins. Brownell is also second in the league with 64 strikeouts.

Brian Myrow and Chris McMurray both sit in the top five of the league in batting average. Myrow’s .368 average was the best in the American Association, while McMurray is in fifth, trailing only Wichita’s Jake Kahaulelio, his teammate Myrow and Amarillo’s Tim Alberts and Adam Buschini, with a .340 average.