Kansas City, Kan. - The Kansas City T-Bones hot streak fizzled out at home, losing to the St. Paul Saints 9-2 Thursday night at T-Bones Stadium. The T-Bones allowed 10 hits, giving up four home runs and matching a season high and dropping the first game of the series.

Dylan Tice led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to immediately put Kansas City in scoring position. After a quick out by Mason Davis for out number two, St. Paul’s starter Chris Nunn (2-1) tossed a wild pitch, advancing Tice to third. The next at bat Nick Torres sliced an RBI single, scoring Tice to put the T-Bones up early, 1-0.

After a scoreless second inning, the Saints offense picked up steam. In the top of the third, Aaron Gretz lead off the inning with a single to start the scoring threat. Kyle Barret hit a dribbler to the pitcher that advanced Gretz to second. The Saints kept the line moving, thanks to a two-out single by Burt Reynolds, evening the score at one run a piece.

The St. Paul offense came in clutch, scoring two runs with two outs in the fifth inning. Max Murphy advanced to first on a single and Kyle Barret cleared the bases with his first homerun of the season, giving the Saints their first lead of the game at 3-2. Brady Shoemaker did his best Barret impression in the sixth inning by hitting a solo shot and extending the Saints lead to 4-2. Two batters later Matt Snyder hit the third homerun of the game for the Saints, putting St. Paul up 5-2 heading into the seventh.

The Saints continued to pour it on the T-Bones in the seventh, tacking on four more runs and putting this game out of reach. T-Bones starter Lucas Irvine (4-2) hit Gertz and gave up a single to Barret and was forced from the game. Jackson Lowery took the mound for KC. Lowery would walk Reynolds, setting loading the bases  for Shoemaker. Lowery continued to struggle, throwing a wild pitch that scored Gertz from third. Things only escalated from there as Shoemaker launched his second home run of the game and the team’s fourth long ball overall, giving the Saints a 9-2 lead after seven.

Irvine pitched 6 1/3 inning, giving up seven runs on seven hits and getting charged with the loss. St. Paul’s starting pitcher Nunn (2-1) is credited with the win after pitching seven quality innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.

The T-Bones three game winning streak came to an end, but they still have a firm grip on second place in the South Division. Kansas City falls to 33-18 and are now five full games behind the South Division leaders the Sioux City Explorers. St. Paul wins their fourth straight game, extending their lead in the North Division by one game over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. The T-Bones continue their four-game series with the Saints Friday night at 7:05 at T-Bones Stadium. Catch all the action with the voice of the T-Bones, Dan Vaughan, on the T-Bones Broadcast Network.

Season, group, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the Box Office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the Box Office at 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com.  Box office hours are 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday – Friday and 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Saturday. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to www.tbonesbaseball.com. and the T-Bones Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.

Box Score

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