WICHITA, Kan.- The Kansas City T-Bones were forced to start right-hander Calvin Drummond on four days rest Wednesday night at Wichita. He was spectacular in five gutsy innings but an eighth inning wild pitch was the difference in the end as the Wingnuts escaped with a 4-3 win over the T-Bones at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

The Wingnuts got the go ahead run across in the eighth after a leadoff double from Richard Prigatano off reliever Grant Sides. Sides got the first out on a shallow fly to left center by Brennen Salgado but Wes Phillps moved Prigatano to third on a fly to deep center. With Leo Vargas at the plate Sides issued a wild pitch to score Prigatano and give Wichita a 4-3 lead. Sides would strike out Vargas to end the home half of the eighth.

Wichita took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI triple from Brent Clevlen but the T-Bones came right back in the second to take the lead. In the second Cedric Hunter was hit by pitch from Jordan Cooper and moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a passed ball.  With one out Dexter Kjerstad reached on an infield single to tie the game at one with Hunter coming home.

Jordan Edgerton then hit a double to right center field to score Kjerstad to give Kansas City the lead 2-1. In the third inning Chantz Mack doubled off Jordan to start the inning. Marcus Lemon then moved Mack to third with a sacrifice bunt. Kevin Keyes hit a sharp ball to short that Leo Vargas threw home. Mack slid in safe but was ruled an error on the catcher as Keyes reached first on a fielder’s choice. The ball and Mack got to the plate about the same time and the ball rolled away from the plate as Mack scored giving the T-Bones a 3-1 lead.

Matt Sergey was scratched from this start earlier in the week forcing the T-Bones to make the call to pitch Drummond on four days rest. After the T-Bones took the lead, Drummond retired five in a row before a two out walk in the third. He would then retire three more before a two out hit an inning later. Drummond would throw three shut down innings in a row for Kansas City.

Approaching 90 pitches in the fifth, Drummond gave up a two out single to Clevlen to cut the lead to 3-2. Drummond would exit with a 3-2 lead after getting the final out of the inning and in turn giving the club a much need lift in the rotation.

Myles Smith would come in for Kansas City in the sixth and give up a leadoff walk to Prigatano. Prigatano would then steal second but Smith was able to strike out back to back batters to hold the lead with two outs. Leo Vargas then rolled a ground ball through the right side to bring home Prigatano to tie the game at three.

Jeff Walters worked a scoreless seventh for the T-Bones. After Wichita grabbed the lead the T-Bones went in order in the top of the ninth as Ryan Kussmaul notched the save his second. The win went to reliever James Campbell (3-1) while Sides (1-3) suffered the loss.

The loss cut the T-Bones lead in the American Association Wild Card race to a half games over Gary SouthShore who won their sixth straight. Kansas City (47-35) trails Lincoln in the Central Division by four games with Gary 4.5 behind the Saltdogs.  Wichita (49-33) still holds a comfortable 12.5 game lead over Cleburne in the South Division of the American Association and a magic number of six. The two teams will play the final game of the series Thursday night at 7:05pm. Lefty Billy Waltrip (1-5, 5.09) will also work on four days rest to face righty Tim Brown (2-3, 8.38).

The game can be heard online on the T-Bones Broadcast Network at tbonesbaseball.com and on the T-Bones MixLR Channel as well as the handy MixLR app. While on the road you can also hear the audio at AmericanAssociation.TV during all road games. The pregame begins at 6:45 with “The Top Step with Manager Joe Calfapietra.” The post-game complete with audio highlights follows after each game.  Tickets for all T-Bones games are available online or by calling (913) 328-5618 or visiting in person the Providence Medical Center Box Office. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at 913-328-5639 or mobile 817-739-3693.

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