SALTDOGS BASEBALL: Monarchs 9th Inning Shuts Down Lincoln in Series Opener

LINCOLN–(News Release Aug. 22)–Aaron Takacs went 2-for-4 with his sixth homer, but the Saltdogs lost 11-4 to the Kansas City Monarchs at Haymarket Park on Tuesday night.

Takacs opened the scoring for Lincoln (42-46) with a solo homer in the 3rd inning, but the Saltdogs lost for the fifth time in the last six games.

Kansas City (51-36) tied the game with a bases-loaded walk from Brian O’Grady in the 4th inning before scoring three times to open a 4-1 lead in the 5th. Justin Wylie made it 2-1 with a sac fly before Chris Herrmann hit a solo homer and Micker Adolfo added an RBI double.

The ‘Dogs loaded the bases with nobody out in the 5th inning, and scored once on a sacrifice fly from Connor Panas to make it 4-2. Lincoln again loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th and scored when Nick Anderson hit into a double play.

Kansas City made it 5-3 in the 7th inning on a solo homer from Jan Hernandez. The ‘Dogs cut into the deficit in the 8th inning when Jason Rogers bounced into a run-scoring double play.

The Monarchs secured things with a six-run 9th inning. Up 5-4, Cameron Cannon hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4. Kansas City added two more on back-to-back singles from Odubel Herrera and Wylie – which extended his on-base streak to 32, the longest active in the league.

Up 8-4, Herrmann scored two more with a double before he eventually came in on Adolfo’s second double of the inning.

Left-handed pitcher Abdallah Aris allowed four runs on seven hits over 5 and 2/3 innings, while right-hander R.J. Freure gave up a solo homer to Hernandez. Right-hander Matt Cronin pitched 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings while Nic Laio allowed six runs over 2/3rds of an inning.

The series continues on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:35 on KFOR FM 101.5/1240 AM.