09/11/2004 1:49 PM - Bullpen Holds On In 4-3 T-Bones Win; T-Bones Ahead 2-1 In Series

The Kansas City T-Bones scored four runs in the fifth and sixth innings to give starter Jon McDonald (W) a 4-2 lead, and the bullpen made it stand up for the T-Bones in a 4-3 win over the Schaumburg Flyers in front of 3,371 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, KS. The win puts the T-Bones up, 2-1, in the best-of-five series.

Kansas City, down 2-0 going into the fifth, got a leadoff homer from Matt Ceriani to start things off in the fifth. With Jack Jones on first and two out, Ray Brown (3-4, HR) socked a 1-2 pitch from former Royal Rick DeHart (L) over the left-field wall to give the T-Bones a 3-2 lead.

Reliever Derek Forbes (S), who inherited runners on second and third and one out in the eighth, struck out Chris Weekly looking with two outs in that frame to preserve what was, at the time, a 4-3 lead.

Schaumburg got on the board in the fourth against McDonald when Tim Merritt singled and Mario Delgado placed a perfect hit and run ball in the hole vacated by T-Bones SS Jack Jones. When Cody Nowlin's throw to cutoff man Jones got away, Merritt scored an unearned run and the Flyers led 1-0.

The Flyers would take a 2-0 lead in the fifth, when Weekly, who led off with a double, came around on a one-out triple by Justin Hendrickson, the first of two Flyer triples.

After Kansas City went up 3-2, they got an insurance run in the sixth when Cody Nowlin doubled to center, advanced to second on a ground out by Mike Brown and scored on a Phil Thompson single. The insurance run proved to be key, as Schaumburg got one back in the seventh against reliever Matt McClellan when Eric Cole's triple scored T.J. Staton, who had walked.

Notes: Ray Brown was 0-7 in the series coming into the game... Forbes worked 1.2 IP to earn the save... Combined, the two teams used eight pitchers after using just eight in the first two games of the series... St. Paul beat Fargo, 9-4, to take a 2-1 lead in the North Division series... the two triples, taking place in three innings, were the first two of the series... RHP Greg Bicknell (1-0, 0.00) opposes Flyer RHP Hank Woodman (0-1, 2.35) in a rematch of Game 1 tomorrow at 7:05 PM... the game will be carried live on All Comedy Radio KCKN 1340 and www.tbonesbaseball.com.

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