By Brian Bruce

Newark, N.J.-  The Newark Bears put together six consecutive hits and scored six runs in the fourth inning, and went on to soundly defeat Kansas City, 11-4, on Monday night at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

Prior to the fourth, Kansas City starting pitcher Josh Rainwater (4-7) had faced the minimum and struck out five. But then came the big fourth for the Bears.

With one out, the Bears lined three straight singles to the outfield, followed by a three-run triple by Tucker Nathans. Ryde Rodriguez followed with an RBI single, and then scored on a two-run opposite field home run by James Roche which made it 6-1 Bears.

KC took the early lead against Newark right-hander Pedro Rivera (3-8) on a two-out RBI double off the top of the center field wall by Ray Sadler, but that’s all they would get until the seventh inning. Sadler, who has nine hits in his last four games, finished Monday night’s contest three for four with a double and one RBI.

Brandon Jones hit a two-run homer to right-center in the seventh, his 10th, narrowing the gap to 6-3. But, Newark scored one on a Glen Johnson home run in the seventh and four more in the eighth, and put the game out of reach.

The series-opening loss drops Kansas City to 41-35 overall as they get set for game two of the series on Tuesday night at 5:35 CT. The T-Bones send right-hander and Liberty, Mo. native Luke Irvine (2-1; 2.78 ERA) to the mound to counter Newark right-hander Mike Ness (7-2; 3.31). The game can be heard on 1660-AM or online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.