By: Alex Dean

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The Kansas City T-Bones (42-37) rallied late and survived a ninth-inning scare to beat the Cleburne Railroaders (47-34) 9-7.

T-Bones starter Christian Binford (4-2) got the win for KC, going 7.2 innings of four-run baseball, with three of them earned. D.J. Sharabi (0-2) was tagged with the loss for Cleburne after giving up three runs in the sixth inning. Carlos Diaz came in with one out in the ninth and notched his ninth save of the season.

The T-Bones struck first in the bottom of the first inning on a Chris Colabello opposite-field home run off Cleburne starter Eudis Idrogo, driving in Daniel Nava. The Railroaders would respond with a two-run inning of their own in the top of the third with an RBI by KC Huth and a sacrifice fly by Chase Simpson off Binford. Cleburne tacked on two more in the next inning off the T-Bones starter, as Logan Trowbridge single brought home John Nester. Nick Rotola would follow with a fielder's choice that drove in Zach Nehrir.

Things would stay locked at 4-2 for the next three innings until Tyler Marincov brought home Roy Morales with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh. Ramsey Romano followed with a two-run double of his own off Sharabi as he hooked one down the left-field line, driving in Shawn O’Malley and Marincov and giving the T-Bones a 5-4 lead. 

KC continued their offensive outburst in the eighth with a four-run inning as the T-Bones batted around. Casey Gillespie would get things started with a two-run shot over the center-field wall off Cleburne reliever Nefi Ogando, driving in Colabello. Tyler Marincov and Dylan Tice followed with RBI singles of their own, giving the T-Bones a 9-4 lead as they went into the ninth inning. 

Henry Owens, who recorded the last out of the eighth, was brought back out to close out the game, but he gave up three runs in the top of the ninth, including RBI by John Nester and Zach Nehrir, bringing the T-Bones lead down to two with a 9-7 score. Carlos Diaz would be brought in to record the final two outs, and he got his ninth save of the year, sealing the T-Bones seventh consecutive win. 

The T-Bones will wrap up the series against the Railroaders Wednesday, August 14 at 7:05 p.m. at JustBats Field at T-Bones Stadium. Dylan Baker (3-4) will get the start for the T-Bones, and he will be facing Cleburne’s Michael Gunn (3-0). Listen live and catch all the action on the T-Bones Broadcast Network.

Half-season 2019 ticket packages as well as mini plans are on sale now online or by calling (913) 328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke's Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale now.

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.

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