AA Kansas City Monarchs

Johnson Falls Five Outs Short of No-No as T-Bones Take Series

Published on July 13, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Kansas City Monarchs News Release


LINCOLN, Neb. - Kris Johnson (1-2) took a no-hitter through seven and one-thirds innings for the Kansas City T-Bones (25-32) and teamed up with reliever Drew Graham for a combined one-hit shutout of the Lincoln Saltdogs (26-31) in a 7-0 victory at Haymarket Park on Wednesday night.

Johnson walked the first batter he faced in the contest before retiring the next three hitters. The left-hander then faced the minimum over the five subsequent innings thanks to a caught stealing in the second and a double play in the fifth. Lincoln did not push a runner to second base until the seventh inning when Phil Hawke walked with one out and advanced to second on defensive indifference.

In the eighth, Johnson induced a groundout to begin the frame before hitting former T-Bone Brandon Jones with the third pitch of the at bat. The next batter, Joseph Ramos, broke up the no-hitter with a single to left on the first pitch he saw. After a walk to Vance Albitz, Blake Gailen grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Drew Graham took over for Johnson to begin the ninth and retired all three batters he faced to secure a one-hit combined shutout for the T-Bones. Johnson, a product of Blue Springs (MO) High School and Wichita State, threw 103 pitches, 58 strikes, while walking five and striking out six in the victory.

Kansas City's offense struck early against James Garcia (1-2), taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Keanon Simon doubled, stole third, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Rico Washington. The score would remain until the sixth when the T-Bones plated six runs on five hits and one Lincoln error to cap the score at 7-0. Aharon Eggleston opened the inning with a solo home run and the second run scored on Washington's second sacrifice fly of the game. Jim Fasano added a three-run double and later came home for the final run on an RBI single by Eggleston, his second hit of the inning.

Garcia was charged with six runs, two earned, on nine hits over five and two-thirds innings in the loss.

Eggleston finished three-for-three with two RBI and Ray Sadler collected four hits in five at bats to highlight the offensive attack. Washington became the sixth T-Bone in team history to post two sacrifice flies in one game. The T-Bones left 16 men on base, one shy of the team record. Kansas City snapped an eight-series winless streak with the victory in Wednesday's rubber match. They dropped four and split four in that span.

The T-Bones now head to Fargo, N.D. for a four-game series with the RedHawks that begins on Thursday night. Kansas City will send left-hander Devin Anderson (5-6, 5.70) to the mound opposite right-hander Zach Ward (3-5, 4.57) in the series opener, with first pitch set for 7:02. To catch all the action while the team is on the road, listen live on KUDL Radio Bach 1660 AM or online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.

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American Association Stories from July 13, 2011


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