By SHANE JACKSON
tbonesbaseball.com

With starter Pat Doyle approaching 100 pitches in the fifth, Kansas City T-Bones hitting coach Dave Schaub, who was filling in for ejected manager John Massarelli, trotted out to the mound for the inevitable pitching change. Schaub called on reliever Kristhiam Linares, with the T-Bones clinging to a 2-1 lead against the RedHawks at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Linares fanned his first batter, ending the frame, but was roughed up in the sixth. That inning, he surrendered three runs off one hit, and walked three straight RedHawks, as Fargo-Moorhead went on to win the game 4-2 in front of 4,593 fans.

With Kansas City trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, home plate umpire Derek Ivinski called Robby Kuzdale out on third strike that ended the inning. After Kuzdale shared his displeasure with the call, Massarelli stuck up for his batter and was ejected. Four pitches later, after Petey Paramore led off the top of the fourth with a four-pitch walk, Kansas City catcher Brian Erie was tossed for arguing the calls.

Following back-to-back Ivinksi ejections, the T-Bones started a rally in the home half of the fourth. David Espinosa roped a chopper through short for a leadoff single and was bought home by a Danny Richar single. Vladimir Frias singled to right, scoring Nick Giarraputo and giving Kansas City a 2-1 lead.

Doyle crafted his way through 4 2/3 innings, giving up one run off four hits, striking out six RedHawks, in 97 pitches. Linares was nicked with his first loss of the year after his meltdown in the sixth. He surrendered three runs off one hit, in 34 pitches, and fanned two RedHawks.

RedHawks starter Jake Laber (1-1) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Nate Garcia notched his third save with a scoreless outing in the ninth. 
   
Offensively the T-Bones were held to two runs off five hits. Espinosa was 2-for-3 at the plate, with a pair of singles and two stolen bases.

With the loss the T-Bones fall to 3-5 on the year while the RedHawks improve to 4-3.

Game two of this four-game series will be played Friday night at 7:05. Rick Zagone (1-0) of the T-Bones and Brian Ernst (0-1) of the RedHawks will be dueling on the mound.