Railroaders Can’t Rally from Early Deficit

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (May 29, 2021) – The Kansas City Monarchs scored five runs in the bottom of the third and led the rest of the way as they defeated the Cleburne Railroaders 6-2 on Saturday night at Legends Field in Kansas City. 

After a leadoff double in the third, Gabriel Guerrero drilled a two-run home run to open the scoring. Following three walks, Darnell Sweeney sliced a bases-clearing double off the left field fence to extend the Monarchs lead to 5-0.

Railroaders starter Garrett Alexander (1-2) settled down from there, tossing three straight scoreless innings to end his outing. Making his first professional start, Alexander picked up eight strikeouts, allowing seven hits and five runs over six frames.

Kansas City (4-5) added another run in the seventh against reliever Jacob Garcia, stretching the lead to 6-0 on an RBI groundout from Ryan Grotjohn. Cleburne (4-7) got on the board in the eighth on a pair of run-scoring singles from John Nester and Alay Lago, trimming the lead to 6-2.

Eric Stout (1-1) picked up the win for the Monarchs with six shutout innings, striking out nine and allowing only three singles. The Railroaders got a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth against Carlos Diaz, but the Kansas City closer struck out the next three to lock down the victory.

The Railroaders conclude the series against the Monarchs on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM. Right-hander Michael Mariot (1-0, 1.50) gets the start for Cleburne, while the Monarchs will counter with right-hander Robinson Martinez (0-0, 7.50).

For information on partnerships, season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Railroaders main office at (817) 945-8705, or visit the Railroaders official website at www.railroaderbaseball.com.