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Ninth inning dooms T-Bones in loss to Sioux City

By Justin Nutter - | Jul 17, 2012

? One day after using some late offense to pull out a win, the T-Bones got a taste of their own medicine.

Kansas City led after five innings, but allowed three unanswered runs — two in the ninth — and dropped a 6-4 decision to the Sioux City Explorers Tuesday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

With the game tied at 4-4, reliever Steve Kent entered to pitch the top of the ninth. He retired the first hitter he faced, then allowed a double and a walk. Both runners came around to score — one on a wild pitch and the other on a sacrifice fly — and the T-Bones (31-27) failed to answer in the bottom of the inning.

“To give that run up on a wild pitch is disappointing, then they got the sac fly,” manager Kenny Hook said. “But I expect to score more than four runs on any night. The pitching did its job holding them to four runs through eight. I expect our offense to get more than four.”

Kent suffered the loss on the mound, dropping him to 4-3 on the season.

Catcher Trevor Coleman gave the T-Bones a 1-0 lead in the first when he drove in left fielder Brandon Jones on a two-out single. Jones doubled the lead with a sacrifice fly in the third.

The Explorers (27-31) broke through with a run off starter Devin Anderson in the fourth. They briefly took the lead with two more in the fifth, but Kansas City answered with two of its own in the bottom of the frame. Jones plated center fielder Gus Milner with an RBI double, then came around to score on a single by designated hitter Lee Cruz.

Anderson left the game after allowing Sioux City to even the score in the sixth, and neither team scored again until the Explorers’ two-spot in the ninth.

The loss snaps the T-Bones’ four-game win streak, but they can still take the three-game series in Wednesday’s rubber game. Brian Grening will get the start and try for his sixth win. The series finale, set for 7:05 p.m., will also mark the end of Kansas City’s five-game homestand.

“It’s all about getting the series,” Hook said. “You can’t afford to lose too many in a row right now. It’s always better when you’re going on the road off a win versus a loss.”

Score by inning

Sioux City 000 121 002 — 6 11 0

Kansas City 101 020 000 — 4 9 0

SIOUX CITY: 2B — P. Barrows 2, R. Priddy. 3B — None. HR — P. Barrows. RBI — P. Barrows 2, B. Newton, K. Sanchez, R. Serrano. SB — None. E — None.

KANSAS CITY: 2B — J. Bass, B. Jones, E. Cruz. 3B — None. HR — None. RBI — B. Jones 2, L. Cruz, T. Coleman. SB — None. E — None.

WP — C. Bodishbaugh (5-1). LP — S. Kent (4-3). S — None.