By Sophie Darting

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It was another heartbreaking loss for the Kansas City T-Bones as they fell, 11-5, to the Chicago Dogs in the first game of a three-game homestand. The T-Bones had the lead until the eighth inning when the Dogs put up a four-spot to go ahead by three runs, yet Chicago did not relinquish the lead.

Olathe-native Jon Perrin (0-0) got the starting nod for Kansas City and produced his first quality start as a member of the T-Bones. Perrin worked through seven innings, giving up three runs off of five hits while striking out eight batsmen. After giving up a pair of runs to the Dogs (13-6) in the top of the fourth, he settled in, striking out the side in the sixth inning, including the last five of six batters he faced.

The T-Bones (9-11) looked like themselves in the beginning of the contest as they got the scoring started in the bottom of the first off of Chicago starter Austin Wright (0-3). Kansas City batted around the lineup in the bottom of the frame and scored their 24th and 25th runs in the first inning this season, which is most runs that they have scored in any inning on the year.

Ryan Brett led off the inning with an infield single and scored on a base hit to left field by Dylan Tice, making it Tice’s first RBI as a member of the T-Bones. Darnell Sweney followed up with a line single to left field, which gave Kansas City runners on the corners with nobody out. After Daniel Nava drew a walk to load the bases, Casey Gillaspie stepped up to the plate and roped an RBI-single into left to make it 2-0. 

In his 2019 T-Bones debut, Danny Mars delivered with the bases loaded and two outs. He lined a two-RBI single to left field and extended the T-Bones’ lead to 4-0.

Chicago started to slowly chip away at Kansas City’s lead. A solo homer by Tony Rosselli in the top of the second got the Dogs on the board, 4-1. They responded again in the top of the fourth off of a pair of RBI-singles by Tony Rosselli and former member of the Chicago Cubs, Carlos Zambrano, to make the T-Bones lead only one run.

The trouble for the T-Bones began in the top of the eighth inning after Perrin was pulled from the game and Robert Calvano (0-1) was brought in to pitch in relief. The Dogs tagged Calvano for four runs, highlighted by a two-run double by Zambrano, and broke the game open while taking a 7-4 lead.

Kansas City tried to make up for the runs they lost in the bottom of the eighth after Gillaspie, Christian Correa, and Mars got on to load the bases with two outs. However, the T-Bones were unable to bring any of the runners home.

Chicago put the game out of reach and added on four more runs in the top of the ninth off of another two-run double, this time by Trey Vavra, an RBI-single by Keon Barnum, and an RBI-ground out by Tony Rosselli.

Ramsey Romano launched his second home run of the year into left field to open up the bottom of the ninth and bring the T-Bones within six runs. With his home run tonight, Romano now owns a six-game hitting streak.

A two-out base hit by Sweeney and a follow-up walk by Nava kept the inning alive for the T-Bones, but ultimately, Kansas City was unable to recover or score any more runs and ended up falling to the Dogs in the first game of the series.

The T-Bones continue the three-game homestand against the Chicago Dogs on Saturday, June 8, with a first pitch time of 7:05 p.m.

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