By MATT FULKS
tbonesbaseball.com

A night after scoring 18 runs against the Lee’s Summit Monarchs, the T-Bones managed only seven base runners in a 10-inning, 3-0 exhibition loss against a better Lincoln Saltdogs club on Tuesday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

The Saltdogs got the only run they needed in the fifth inning when Jon Gaston launched a triple to centerfield against T-Bones reliever Justin D’Alessandro, scoring Trevor Martin, who reached on a walk. Gaston, however, then became the second out of the inning when he tried to steal home. D’Alessandro, who was in the windup, stepped off the rubber and threw Gaston out at the plate.

Kansas City showed life in the bottom of the ninth when Danny Richar roped a two-out double to the right-field corner. Richar was thrown out, however, when he tried to score from second on a hit by Brian Erie. Lincoln right fielder Brian Joynt threw out Richar by a few steps.

The Saltdogs added two runs in the top of the 10th inning on a home run to left-center by Ian Gac. (The teams agreed to play a full nine innings, plus a half.)

Kansas City used five pitchers in the game, which Rick Zagone started. Zagone, one of the three remaining players from the 2013 club, got into jams in the second and third innings, but escaped unharmed after striking out five Saltdogs during the two innings.

The T-Bones go on the road for two more exhibition games this week, before playing host to Winnipeg on Monday and Tuesday for the final two exhibition games of 2014. Kansas City plays host to these same Lincoln Saltdogs for the regular-season opener on Thursday, May 15.