Dogs Drop Third Straight, Get Swept by Kansas City
June 25, 2022 - American Association (AA)
Chicago Dogs News Release
ROSEMONT, Ill. - In a battle between the league's best, a massive gap was created in favor of the Kansas City Monarchs, who capped off their sixth straight win against the Chicago Dogs, 9-2.
It was a well-rounded performance for KC, headlined by 10 hits and a lockdown bullpen performance. Second baseman Darnell Sweeney led the way, going 3-for-5 with two runs.
Monarchs starter Akeem Bostick shoved 5.2 innings and allowed two runs and struck out six. Somehow, his pitching performance was overshadowed by a bullpen that racked up eight punch outs in 3.1 innings.
A.J. Kullman provided another decent start for the Dogs. The tall righty pitched five innings and allowed three runs, six hits and no walks. Offensively, left fielder Charlie Tilson launched his first home run as a Chicago Dog but did not see much production outside of that.
Tilson kicked the game off with a bang. On his second pitch from Bostick, the leadoff man lined a ball straight towards the right field bleachers. The Chicagoland native has been a spark plug all weekend at the top of the lineup, going 2-for-3 in his opening at-bats with a double in the opener that put the Dogs ahead early.
Outside of the solo blast, Bostick and Kullman were in control of the game's tempo early on and did so with opposing methods. Bostick allowed two hits, but wouldn't let the Dogs move baserunners over through his four strikeouts in the opening third of the game. Kullman, meanwhile, got one punch out but relied more so on strong defense behind him.
Allowing contact is what bit Kullman in the fourth. With one out, Sweeney reached base off a single to right field. A Gabby Guerrero single to center advanced Sweeney to third. This gave American Association RBI leader Matt Adams the chance at tying the game and he delivered. The former World Series champion skied a ball to right field that allowed Sweeney to trot home and tie the game, 1-1.
Sensing a switch in momentum, the Dogs did everything they could to not let this game end up similar to the rest of the series. K.C. Hobson led off the inning with his league-leading 27th walk of the season. A Ryan Lidge fly out brought up Danny Mars and the right fielder jumped on the first pitch to line a double down the third base line.
Anfernee Grier, who returned back to the lineup after dealing with injury, matched the Monarchs' energy for a sacrifice fly of his own to center field. Hobson scored and the Dogs reclaimed the lead, 2-1.
Similar to Friday's bout, Kansas City jumped on the Dogs in the fifth. Jan Hernandez, who has been a thorn in Dogs manager Butch Hobson's side all weekend, started the rally with a single to left. J.C. Escarra put runners on the corners with another single and shortstop Kevin Santa brought Christmas joy to his side with a double into the left field corner. Hernandez scored to tie the game. The Monarchs tacked on one more from a groundout by Willie Abreu to bring the score to 3-2, KC.
In the sixth, Chicago turned to a tired bullpen to subdue the Monarchs offense. Across two innings, right-hander Ryan Clark and southpaw Tanner Lawson did just that with two strikeouts and only one baserunner allowed. The problem was that the Dogs failed to put the ball in play against Kansas City's Jordan Martinson, who struck out all four hitters he faced.
The seventh inning was when the wheels began to fall off. Left-handed reliever Kevin Marnon entered the game and got himself into a bases loaded, one out jam from the heart of the Monarchs' lineup. With a 3-1 count against David Thompson, Marnon again failed to find the strike zone and walked in Sweeney to make the score 4-2. The typically reliable Marnon walked three of his five batters faced and forced Hobson's hand.
The Dogs turned to Paul Schwendel for answers, but it was more of the same. The right-hander walked Hernandez, which brought Guerrero home. Facing Casey Gillespie, Schwendel commanded the zone but was hammered for it from a double to left field that brought in two more runs.
There was clearly something in the water for the Dogs pitching. Combined, Marnon and Schwendel walked five Monarchs, two wild pitches and an error. By the end of the frame, the score ballooned to 8-2.
Just for good measure, Adams launched a ball to the right field pavilion off of Justin Goossen-Brown in the ninth. The power lefty was largely kept in check during the series, but decided to get in on the fun with his last opportunity.
With the loss, Kansas City completes an impressive sweep against the league's second top dog (no pun intended). Overall, the Monarchs outscored Chicago 30-5 to prove to put the league on notice. The Dogs hope to bounce back on the road against the Milwaukee Milkmen for a midweek series.
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American Association Stories from June 25, 2022
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