06/26/2004 3:19 PM - June 26, 2004

KANSAS CITY – Designated hitter Eddie Pearson drove in four runs and pitcher Phil Thompson picked up his first professional win as Kansas City clipped the Canaries, 10-7, before the largest crowd in franchise history at CommunityAmerica Ballpark Saturday night. With the victory, the T-Bones (14-21) took the third game of a four-game series in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 7,655 fans.

D.J. Johnson worked a scoreless ninth inning for Kansas City to earn his league-leading eighth save of the season. Thompson (1-0) picked up the win with five solid innings – while allowing four runs, three earned – in the first start of his professional career. Rob Ellis (2-3) took the loss for Sioux Falls, which fell to 11-23 on the year.

Pearson went 2-for-2 with a three-run homer – his second round-tripper in as many games – a sacrifice fly, and a pair of walks to pace the T-Bones’ offense. In four games against Sioux Falls, Pearson hit .571 (8-for-14) with nine RBI’s. It has been a continuation of an amazing week for the veteran, who has gone 14-for-24 (.583) with three homers and 17 RBI’s in five games.

The T-Bones built an early 7-0 lead – fueled by Pearson’s homer in the third and four consecutive singles by Mike Hass, Chris LePine, Chad Hill, and Rick Prieto in the fourth – that chased Ellis from the game. LePine finished the night with three hits, including his second homer of the year, and three runs scored.

Thompson allowed just two hits through his first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth as the Canaries plated four runs – capped off by Marc Mirizzi’s three-run homer to right field – that cut the lead to 7-4.

Kansas City added two more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh to extend its lead to 10-4. Sioux Falls answered with three runs of its own – all coming on a three-run homer by Josh Allen in the eighth inning – but that’s as close as it get. The T-Bones will continue their home stand Monday when Joliet comes to CommunityAmerica Ballpark for a three-game series beginning Monday at 7:05 p.m.

Game Notes: Pearson had two hits in as many at-bats Saturday to raise his batting average to .393 on the season… Prieto scored two runs Saturday night. He has scored at least one run in nine straight games for the T-Bones and has scored in all but nine games for the season… The first three batters of the game for Sioux Falls all popped out in foul territory… The T-Bones took three of four games from Sioux Falls to earn their first series win at CommunityAmerica Ballpark this season. It was their second series win overall.