KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City T-Bones played from behind for most of Friday night’s game, but their ninth-inning rally fell just short as they lost 9-8 to the Winnipeg Goldeyes in front of 5,018 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Kansas City, which trailed by as many as six runs at 9-3 after the top of the seventh, were down 9-5 heading into the final frame. But the T-Bones showed plenty of life. Ryan Cavan led off the ninth with a double. Two batters later, Jake Blackwood hit an RBI single to center, scoring Cavan. After Adam Bailey walked and Robby Kuzdale flied out for the second out, Vladimir Frias roped a single to left that scored Blackwood from second, making the score 9-7. Brian Erie hit an RBI single to center, scoring Bailey and cutting Winnipeg’s lead to one, before James Boddicker struck out for the final out of the night.

Mike Nannini was perfect through the first two innings but then got shaky in the third. Winnipeg tacked on its first two runs of the night as Casio Grider hit an RBI double to deep left center, scoring Ryan Babineau, who made it safely to first on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Chris Robinson then hit an RBI single to shallow center field, landing just in front of Kuzdale, and scored Grider.

Kansas City cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the third, but the Goldeyes extended their lead in the top of the fourth as Josh Mazzola, who currently leads the league in home runs, blasted a two-run homer into the Winnipeg bullpen that gave his team a 4-1 lead. That was the second of four consecutive innings in which the Goldeyes scored two runs.

Nannini, who took the loss, went 4 innings, plus three batters in the fifth, and allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits, including one home run. He gave way in the fifth to Jared Messer, who recorded the three outs in the inning, but then gave up two runs in the sixth. After the Goldeyes loaded the bases with one out, Mazzola scored from third on a passed ball that moved Nic Jackson to third from second. During the same at-bat, Jackson scored on a wild pitch by Messer that put the T-Bones down, 8-2.

The T-Bones added a run in the bottom of the sixth, cutting Winnipeg’s lead to 8-3, as Robby Kuzdale hit a home run off Winnipeg starter Matt Jackson. It was Kuzdale’s team-leading ninth homer of the season.

The T-Bones scored two more runs — one in the seventh and one in the eighth — before putting together their three-run rally in the ninth. In the seventh, Jacob Hayes doubled and then scored on a double by Cavan. And then, in the eighth, Boddicker hit an RBI double that scored Frias, who reached on an infield single.

Kansas City out-hit Winnipeg, 17-12, with every starter getting at least one hit. One night after finishing five-for-five, Cavan recorded three hits, as did Frias.

The T-Bones (32-23) and Goldeyes (25-34) are scheduled to play game three of this four-game series Saturday night at 7:05. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.