Luis Villarreal (5-3) and the Kansas City T-Bones (30-38) won the first game of the three-game series tonight, 9-1, against the Gary SouthShore RailCats (39-29)  in front of 7,011 fans at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Villarreal surrendered just one run on five hits over eight innings in the win.  The left-hander retired nine in-a-row at one point and recorded four strike outs.

Jordan Czarniecki doubled off Villarreal to start the second inning and advanced to third when Cristian Guerrero singled.  An RBI groundout by Jeff Beachum plated Czarniecki, accounting for Gary’s only run of the contest.

The T-Bones offense gave Villarreal an early lead, scoring three runs off Tom Thornton (7-5) in the second inning.  With one out, Neb Brown reached on an infield single before Jim Fasano walked.  Brown scored on an RBI double by Ryan Fox while Fasano moved to third.  A sacrifice fly by Jacob Blackwood plated Fasano.  Fox was pushed to third by an infield single by Jeff Helps and scored on an RBI single by Aharon Eggleston, giving Kansas City a 3-1 advantage.

Craig Hurba singled with one out in the third before Brown drew a walk.  Both runners scored on a three-run home run by Fox, his league-leading 19th of the season.  Blackwood then doubled and was pushed across on an RBI single by Helps, extending the T-Bones lead to 7-1.

Fox started Kansas City’s half of the fifth with a single and moved to third on a basehit by Blackwood.  Both runners scored on a single by Helps, capping the scoring for the night, 9-1. 

Thornton took the loss, allowing nine runs on 15 hits over seven innings before giving way to outfielder Mike Massaro for one frame.  Massaro surrendered two walks and hit a batter in a scoreless eighth.  Justin James threw one inning to finish the game for the T-Bones. 

Eggleston extended his on-base streak to 26 games and hitting streak to 15 with a two-for-six performance.  Fox finished the night three-for-five with a double, home run and four RBI.  Every Kansas City player reached at least once with six batters collecting hits.  All six posted multi-hit games in a 15 hit effort.

Derek Duclos (0-2, 7.04) takes the mound opposite Garret Holleran (1-2, 3.46) and the RailCats tomorrow night.  First pitch is set for 7:05.  Single-game tickets for the T-Bones are still available and start at just $6.  For more information, call 913-328-5618 or visit www.tbonesbaseball.com