06/21/2005 11:12 PM - Click here to view the box score.

Eight home runs were hit in Tuesday night's game between the Kansas City T-Bones and Sioux Falls Canaries, four on each side. In the end, however, it was the Canaries prevailing in their home park, 10-9, in the series opener at the Birdcage in Sioux Falls, S. Dak.

Newcomer Greg Jacobs provided much of the offense for the T-Bones in the loss, socking a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run homer in the ninth. The latter shot got Kansas City back within the final margin in the game.

The ballgame was a see-saw battle, with two ties and three lead changes along the way. Kansas City led, 4-3, in the bottom of the sixth before Warren Gaspar socked a three-run homer to right against Kansas City reliever Joe Goodmann to give Sioux Falls the lead. But T-Bone Mike Brown's two-run double in the top of the seventh knotted the contest at six.

Kansas City had a golden opportunity slip away in the top of the eighth. The T-Bones had gotten a single run to tie the game, 7-7, and had the bases loaded with no outs. But Sioux Falls reliever John Wesley (W, 3-1) squeezed out of the jam, allowing no further runs, and Sioux Falls scored three against reliever David Viane (L, 2-2) in the bottom of the eighth to give the Canaries a lead they would not relinquish. The big blow in the bottom of the eighth was the fourth longball for the Canaries - a two-run homer to right-center off the bat of Anthony Monegan.

Leading the way on offense for the T-Bones were Jacobs, who scored three times and had two hits in the game, and Rick Prieto, who had three base knocks and drove in two runs while scoring two.

Caleb Balbuena worked 5+ innings for the T-Bones, walking seven and allowing five earned runs in the no-decision.