06/04/2006 8:27 PM - KANSAS CITY, Kan. – If Kansas City baseball fans came to CommunityAmerica Ballpark expecting quality pitching this weekend, they certainly got what they wanted in the T-Bones’ series with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. After two consecutive shutout efforts by Kansas City starting pitchers, it was the RedHawks' Mark Michael who dazzled 5,223 spectators Sunday in a 4-2 victory for the first-place visitors.

After struggling at the plate in the first two games of the series, Fargo-Moorhead quickly jumped ahead with a pair of runs in the first inning. Joe Mathis led off with a single, and then advanced to third on a bloop single to right by Kory Wayment. Richard Austin brought Mathis home with a sacrifice fly before Jesse Hoorelbeke delivered an RBI-double that T-Bones’ centerfielder Michael Spidale nearly turned into a highlight-reel catch.

The T-Bones mounted a scoring threat of their own in the bottom of the first, as singles by Spidale and Doug Dreher and a walk to Greg Jacobs loaded the bases with no outs. But RedHawks’ right-hander Mark Michael worked his way out of trouble, striking out Charles Peterson on three pitches then getting Eddie Pearson to line into an inning-ending double play.

Kansas City once again received a solid outing from its starting pitcher, as Greg Bicknell (1-3) settled into a groove after a rocky first inning. The right-hander retired 11 straight at one point and 19 of 22 batters through seven innings before yielding to Caleb Balbuena with two-on and one-out in the eighth. Two errors and two hit-batsmen led to a pair of Fargo-Moorhead runs and a 4-0 advantage.

Fargo-Moorhead's Michael (3-0) struck out nine and limited the T-Bones to just four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings before turning the ball over to his bullpen. Kansas City rallied for two runs in the ninth off lefty Josh Gray, but closer Brian Adams struck out Chad Sosebee and Spidale with the tying runs in scoring position to wrap up his fourth save of the season.

The T-Bones will welcome the Edmonton Cracker-Cats to CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Monday in the first game of a three-game series. LHP Buddy Blair (0-3, 9.95) will take the mound for the Kansas City and Edmonton will counter with LHP Brad Bissell (1-2, 4.50). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.