KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Kansas City starter Lavon Lewis outdueled Joliet ace Nick Renault, but the T-Bones’ bullpen couldn’t hold the lead as the T-Bones fell 7-5 in front of 5,407 fans.

The T-Bones scored five early runs off Renault, who began the evening with a 1.88 ERA, fourth-best in the league.  The T-Bones grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles from Mario Delgado and Brad Correll.  They added three more in the fourth when Rob Watson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Jason Belcher.  An error by Joliet first baseman Derek Nicholson allowed the next batter, Neb Brown, to reach first safely as Aharon Eggleston and Austin Easley came home to put the T-Bones up 5-0.

Lewis entered the game with an 8.03 ERA, but did not allow a hit or a run until Kevin Sullivan homered with two outs in the fifth.  He allowed three more runs in the sixth on a home run by Cory Harris, but handed a 5-4 lead to Brett Reid to start the seventh inning. 

Reid would allow two runs to score in the seventh, the first on an RBI double by Tim Hutting that scored Derek Nicholson.  Nicholson would later come home on a throwing error by Watson, giving Joliet a 6-5 lead.

Matt Schweitzer made his league-leading ninth appearance of the season for Kansas City, surrendering a solo home run to Derek Nicholson, his seventh home run which also leads the league.  Derrick Ellison, who relieved Renault with one out in the seventh, got the save with two and two-thirds scoreless innings to close out the game.  Renault improves to 3-0 on the season.

The two teams face off again tomorrow night at 7:05 when Anthony Boughner takes the mound for KC against Nate Sevier.  The T-Bones now sit at 998,005 fans in their five-year history, just 1,995 away from one million.  Prizes will be awarded to that lucky fan tomorrow night, including T-Bones tickets for life.

Game Notes:  The loss was the ninth in 10 games for the T-Bones, who dropped to 5-10 on the season…Donaldo Mendez was caught stealing in the seventh inning, his fourth caught stealing of the season.  He is now one-for-five in stolen base attempts…After seeing his 11-game hit streak end last night at Schaumburg, Correll went two-for-four and drove in a run in tonight’s game.