By GM Vaughan

KANSAS CITY, KS—On a night when the T-Bones (56-41) were a bit shorthanded, owing to an injured Shawn O’Malley and an absent Stewart Ijames, the T-Bones stepped up to the plate needing the win against fellow division playoff contender, Sioux City (56-41). Carlos Sierra faced off against Dylan Baker in what would seem like a standoff for most of the game.

After five scoreless innings, Kyle Wren started the X’s off with a single toward second, and he advanced to second on what could have been a costly error. On a pass ball by Stankiewicz, Wren advanced to third and then came home on a sac fly by Samson, giving Sioux City a 1-0 lead in the sixth, but a double play ball kept the Sioux City offense from doing further damage.

Carlos Sierra held KC in check allowing just two hits in six scoreless frames. The T-Bones hopes awakened in the bottom of the eighth after a hit-by-a-pitch by Nathan Gercken brought Austin Biggar to first base, and Dylan Tice followed with a base hit to left. The Explorers would bring in their closer Matt Pobereyko to try to get a four out save. With T-Bones on both first and second, Mason Davis brought the long ball, hitting a three-run homerun, giving Kansas City the 3-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth.

After Henry Owens walked Wren, the lead-off batter in the top of the ninth, Owens was quickly replaced by Carlos Diaz, who came in to close out the game for the T-Bones. Diaz was a strike-throwing machine striking out the next three batters, giving the T-Bones a much-needed win, 3-1.

With the win tonight and Lincoln’s defeat over Cleburne, the T-Bones are now in a three-way tie for the lead in the South division.

The winning pitcher was Baker (4-5) for the T-Bones, and the losing pitcher was Matt Pobereyko (1-4) for the Explorers. Carlos Diaz earned his lucky 13^th save. The T-Bones will savor the win until they come back tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. for game two against Sioux City. Catch all the action live on the T-Bones Broadcast Network.

Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale now online or by calling (913) 328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke's Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale now. 

For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to www.tbonesbaseball.com. and the T-Bones Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.   

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