08/18/2004 11:14 AM - KANSAS CITY – Eddie Pearson hit his Northern League-leading 24th home run of the season in a losing effort as Fargo-Moorhead bested the T-Bones 7-2 Wednesday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Jason Fitzgerald and Kelley Gulledge each hit two-run homers for the RedHawks in sending Kansas City (17-16, 37-44) to its second straight defeat.

Fitzgerald left the yard in the sixth inning to give Fargo-Moorhead (17-15, 49-31) a 4-0 lead and Gulledge homered in the seventh to make it 7-2. RedHawks starter Todd George (8-4) allowed just Pearson’s two-run homer in the sixth in seven strong innings. Matt McClellan (6-5) was charged with four runs on 10 hits in six innings for the T-Bones.

Fargo-Moorhead took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to a two-out single by Brad Mazer. Erik Kofler singled through the right side and moved to second on a base hit by Fitzgerald. Brian Ward singled to load the bases for Mazer, who followed with a liner into left field that plated two.

McClellan pitched out a jam in the fifth inning after the first two batters reached on back-to-back singles. After a wild pitch that advanced both runners one base, McClellan induced Bryon Jeffcoat to ground out to short and fanned the final two hitters to end the inning unscathed. The T-Bones weren’t as lucky in the following inning when Fitzgerald hit his sixth home run of the season over the wall in right field that gave the RedHawks a 4-0 advantage.

The T-Bones cut the lead in half in the sixth inning when Pearson homered over the fence in right field that brought home Chad Hill, who drew a one-out walk to start the rally, that made the score 4-2. The momentum didn’t last long as Fargo-Moorhead added three runs in the seventh on an RBI-double by Eric Kofler and a homer by Gulledge that made it 7-2.

Game Notes: McClellan set a season high with eight strikeouts Wednesday night. The big right-hander struck out five of the first eight batters he faced… Rick Prieto singled in four at-bats to extend his team-high hitting streak to 10 games. He has now hit safely in 27 of 28 contests… Ray Brown singled three times to extend his hitting streak to seven games. He is batting better than .500 with eight RBI’s during that time… Six RedHawk starters had two hits and three drove in two runs in the game.

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