The Kansas City T-Bones (21-15) received five strong innings of relief from Steven Stewart (3-1, pictured) tonight as they defeated the Joliet JackHammers (16-18), 9-6, at Silver Cross Field.

The T-Bones jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Ross Stout (2-4) in the second inning, scoring their first run on a solo home run by Brian Joynt, his 11th of the season.  RBI singles from Jimmy Mojica, Keanon Simon, and Rico Washington plated the final three tallies of the frame.

Joliet responded quickly in the bottom of the second against Brett Davis, scoring three times against the left-hander.  Jon Nelson opened the inning with a solo home run before an RBI groundout from Joe Billick and run-scoring single by Jonathan Wyatt capped off the frame.

The JackHammers chased Davis from the game in the third after the first two batters reached on a walk and a double.  Stewart entered and allowed the tying run to score on a sacrifice fly before ending the inning without any further damage.  Joliet took a 5-4 lead against Stewart in the fourth on an RBI single by former T-Bone Brad Correll and used an RBI single from Chris Colton to plate their final run of the contest in the seventh.

Stewart surrendered two runs on five hits in his five innings of work, walking just one batter while striking out three.

Kansas City regained the lead for the final time in the top of the seventh with a three-run frame, first tying the game at five on a solo shot by Jacob Blackwood, his 10th of the year.  After a Washington double chased Stout from the contest with nobody out in the inning, Ray Sadler collected a double of his own to plate Washington and push the score to 6-5.  Jim Fasano then singled home Sadler to give the T-Bones a two-run advantage.

Stout allowed six runs on 11 hits over six-plus innings in the loss.

Keith Hernandez hit his first home run of the season to begin the eighth inning and an RBI single by Washington capped the scoring at 9-6 later in the frame.  Every T-Bone batter collected a hit, with six of the nine posting multi-hit games.  Washington finished four-for-five with two RBI to pace the offensive effort.  Jacob Blackwood entered the game in a 0-for-11 skid but ended the contest two-for-four with an RBI.

Kevin Light threw a scoreless eighth before Franklin Perez quickly retired the side in the ninth for his second save of the season.

Left-hander Ryan Knippschild (5-2, 3.35) takes the mound for Kansas City in game three tomorrow afternoon opposite left-hander Todd Privett (2-2, 5.17) and the JackHammers.  First pitch is set for 2:10.  Catch all the action through streaming webcast at www.tbonesbaseball.com or on the radio at KXTR 1660 AM.