AA Kansas City Monarchs

Monarchs Bats Go Silent in Series Finale

May 30, 2021 - American Association (AA)
Kansas City Monarchs News Release


Kansas City, Kan. - It had been six years since he started a game, but Robinson Martinez toed the rubber for the Kansas City Monarchs (4-6) in the third game of the Monarchs' series with the Cleburne Railroaders (5-7), but the Monarchs drop the final game to Cleburne 7-0. The Monarchs loss kept them just short of the home sweep as they drop to 4-6 on the young season.

For his part, Martinez (0-1) pitched three innings of one-run baseball while fanning a pair of Railroaders before he was replaced by Wilmer Torres.

"Right now we have four starters, so everyone's up for auditioning for that fifth spot," manager Joe Calfapietra said. "As the innings go, pitch counts rise. He got up to 60-some pitches, but he could have been maybe 45 and going out again."

The Monarchs looked to get something going against Railroader starter Michael Mariot in the third when Ryan Grotjohn slapped a single into left center and got to second on a wild pitch. The former big leaguer would induce a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to keep the Monarchs off the board.

The Monarchs got back after Mariot in the fifth with a pair of no-out singles from Colin Willis and Grotjohn.

Daniel Wasinger drew a walk to load the bases with one out, but Darnell Sweeney grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the Monarch threat.

"We had opportunities to keep it close," Calfapietra said. "We knew we were going to be in a dogfight today because we had a bullpen day and a very good pitcher against us. So when those opportunities came up that's the time we had to execute, but we didn't."

Mariot (2-0) who made his major league debut for the Kansas City Royals in 2014 looked like he could be headed back to the show at some point this season. The two times the Monarchs threatened, the righty would get out of the spot with a double play ball. He would toss six scoreless innings holding the Monarchs to five hits to get the win. The Monarchs left a pair on base in the sixth before the Railroaders turned to their bullpen and shut down the offense.

Torres relinquished five runs on two hits, walking five and striking out four. He was replaced by Ramsey Romano, who gave up just one run across three innings.

"We have to get momentum, that's the big thing. We won the series, now we move on to the next one and take care of our business at hand," Calfapietra said.

Kansas City begins a three-game series Monday afternoon against the Sioux Falls Canaries. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Legends Field in KCK with gates opening at noon. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 12:35 p.m. while the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to all Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the Monarchs Media Relations Department (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to monarchsbaseball.com. and the Monarchs Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.

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