06/28/2004 3:25 PM - June 28, 2004

KANSAS CITY – Steve Hecker, Ben Ally, and Robert Garvin combined to throw a one-hit shut out of the T-Bones Monday night as visiting Joliet took the first game of a three-game set, 2-0, at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Kansas City starter Jonathan Krysa (3-6) took the tough-luck loss after setting a new franchise record with 11 strikeouts in a complete-game effort.

Krysa fanned the first three batters of the game and had seven K’s through the first four innings. The right-hander tied the franchise mark of eight – set by Jayson Sigley last season and matched by Jon McDonald last Saturday – by striking out Dan Firlit in the seventh. He broke the record in the ninth inning by striking out the side. It was his third complete game of the year.

Hecker (2-3) allowed a lead-off double by Chris LePine – the T-Bones’ only hit of the game – and cruised the rest of the way. He lasted six innings and kept the KC batters in-check despite walking six in his first five innings. Ally followed with a pair of scoreless innings of his own and Garvin blanked the T-Bones (14-22) in the ninth to earn his fourth save.

The Jackhammers (18-18) scored the only run they would need in the second inning, but it could have been a lot more if it hadn’t been for some clutch pitching by Krysa. The first three batters reached base to load the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. But Krysa got Matt McCay to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play and then induced the following batter to ground out to second to end the threat.

Joliet scored an unearned run in the fifth inning thanks to a fielding error that allowed Gabby Delgato to reach. The Jackhammers second baseman then swiped second and came around to score on Firlit’s base hit to right field that made it 2-0.

The T-Bones failed to cash in on some prime scoring opportunities early on as the team stranded five runners in the first two innings, and eight for the game, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. Kansas City left the bases loaded in the first when Joliet right fielder Josh Loggins made a nice running catch of Chad Shindle’s liner into the gap. Loggins played spoiler once again in the following inning by snagging a bullet hit by Hiroshi Fujimoto that left runners on first and second.

Game Notes: T-Bones designated hitter Eddie Pearson was named Northern League Player of the Week Monday. The slugger hit .500 (10-for-20) with three home runs, five runs scored, and 14 RBI in five games last week... Krysa set a career high of 13 in 2002 while with Edinburg of the Central League… The T-Bones’ one hit was their lowest total of the season… Prieto did not score a run Monday, thus ending s string of nine consecutive games of scoring at least one run. He entered the game as the league’s leader with 40 runs scored for the season… Prieto and Fujimoto combined to rob Joliet of a run in the seventh. Prieto fired a rocket to the plate to gun down David Gordon, who was trying to score from second on a base hit. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Gordon knocked Fujimoto over in an attempt to jar the ball loose, but the 5-8, 175-pound catcher held on the ball to record the out.

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