The Junction City Blues American Legion baseball team lost to Rossville 9-2 and 9-8 Wednesday evening at Rathert Field. leaving the Blues 2-6-1 on the season. In the second game the Blues left two men on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but were unable to score any more.
Junction City went 2-2-1 in a tournament in Manhattan last weekend, and this week fell to the Salina Hawks two times and then to Rossville.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Cora kept watching the Red Sox hammer pitches right at the Kansas City Royals during the first few innings Tuesday night, and the Boston skipper was confident that eventually some of them would find their way through.
Eduardo Núñez finally solved the problem by depositing a pitch over the fence.
His pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning broke open what had been a nip-and-tuck game, and the Red Sox went on to beat the Royals 8-3 to open a grueling stretch of 17 games in 16 days.
“We were swinging the bat well. I know we didn’t score early, but that was the hardest we’d hit the ball all season,” Cora said. “Eventually we got some results.”
Rafael Devers also drove in a pair of runs for the Red Sox, while Eduardo Rodríguez (6-3) kept the Royals at bay over 5 2/3 innings. He allowed just six hits while striking out seven, his only mistake a pitch in the second that Cheslor Cuthbert sent to left field for a two-run homer.
Glenn Sparkman matched Rodríguez most of the way, but he left a runner on base when he was lifted with one out in the sixth. Scott Barlow (1-2) promptly gave up the lead with a miserable relief outing, and Núñez’s homer off Jake Diekman in the eighth inning was merely the finishing touch.
The Red Sox improved to 9-1 in Rodríguez’s last 10 starts.
“I think the only pitch I missed was the one that he hit the homer,” Rodríguez said. “Everybody believes in this offense. We’ve just got to keep the game close when we’re out there.”
Meanwhile, the woebegone Royals lost for an AL-leading 20th time when they had the lead.
Even more frustrating for Kansas City: Sparkman was slicing up Boston’s lineup, allowing just two hits through five innings. But after Mookie Betts’ leadoff double in the sixth, and Andrew Benintendi’s flyout, Sparkman was yanked by manager Ned Yost despite having thrown just 80 pitches.
“I felt really good,” Sparkman said, “but I hadn’t gone that high, so 85 was probably the limit.”
Barlow entered the game and the spark went out of the Royals.
J.D. Martinez delivered an RBI triple, Devers drew a walk and Xander Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to knot the game 2-all. Brock Holt followed with a double to give the Red Sox their first lead.
“Cuthbert’s home run was good. We took a two-run lead going to the sixth there,” Yost said. “Sparkman’s high-water mark was 68 pitches, so we were going to take him to 80 or around there. He got right to the 80 mark. We decided to bring in one of our most productive relievers.”
It was still 3-2 in the eighth when Núñez connected for Boston’s second pinch-hit homer this season.
“It was a matter of having good at-bats,” Cora said, “and getting to the bullpen.”
The Junction City Brigade topped the Baldwin City Blues 20-7 Tuesday night in Baldwin City. The victory came one night after the Brigade scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Baldwin City at Rathert Field, 13-12.
Junction City will host Baldwin City Friday evening at seven o’clock at Rathert Field.
Single-game tickets for K-State’s seven-game home football schedule will go on sale to the general public next week, K-State Athletics officials have announced.
Ahearn Fund members will be able to access a pre-sale beginning at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 5th, with all tickets going on sale to the public at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 10th. The public on-sale will include a week’s worth of promotions running through June 16th, one for each home game.
They include $20 tickets for the game against Nicholls on August 31st, $10 view level tickets for the Bowling Green contest September 7th, and for the October 5th Baylor game the first 100 orders of View Level tickets receive one free K-State camo hat.
For the TCU game on October 19th the View Level Wildcat 4-pack will cost $100, the first 100 orders of View Level tickets for the October 26th contest with Oklahoma will receive one free Win the Dang Day notepad and pen set, the first 100 View Level tickets purchased will receive a free shirt with each ticket, and for the November 30th game with Iowa State there the View Level Wildcat 4-pack will cost $80.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals placed slugging third baseman Hunter Dozier on the injured list with an oblique strain and recalled infielder Kelvin Gutierrez from Triple-A Omaha before their series opener against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Dozier’s move to the IL is retroactive to Friday, and manager Ned Yost said he could be back in about a week. Dozier hurt his oblique in last Thursday’s win over the Rangers.
On a team that has struggled to score runs, Dozier has been a breakout star. He is hitting .314 with 11 homers and 33 RBIs while playing solid third base and occasionally stepping in at first.
Gutierrez hit .281 with a homer and 11 RBIs in 15 games with Kansas City earlier this season.
The Junction City Brigade lost to the Kansas City Knights 3-2 Saturday night in Kansas City. The Brigade had defeated the Knights 8-5 Friday evening at Rathert Field.
Junction City will host the Baldwin City Blues Monday evening at 7 o’clock. The game can be heard on 107.9 FM and 1420 KJCK AM.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Sampson provided evidence Sunday that he doesn’t need to follow a closer to the mound for the Texas Rangers to be successful.The 27-year-old right-hander struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings and earned his first major league win as a starter, leading the Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 5-1.
Texas won three of four in the series. The Royals ended a 1-6 trip that left them with a major league-worst 8-23 road record.
Sampson (4-3) posted his previous three victories in relief of an opener during his last three outings. He gave up one run and eight hits, and walked none.
“I knew I’d be out there in the heart of it, and it was just good to get a win today,” he said.
Sampson brought an 0-4 career record into this season in six appearances for the Rangers and Seattle Mariners beginning in 2016.
“I’m pretty sure we won’t use (a closer) next time,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “That was amazing what he did. Showed us a lot. Showed me a lot. It showed our entire staff a lot — guts.”
Texas reliever Jesse Chavez pitched a scoreless ninth to run his shutout streak to 18 1/3 innings.
Brad Keller (3-7) allowed three runs in seven innings. The American League leader in walks with 42 didn’t walk anyone but had two wild pitches, one that scored a run.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the third on three opposite-field singles and added two runs in the fifth, the second on an opposite-field single by Nomar Mazara.
Sampson escaped a jam in the fifth in which the Royals used bunt singles by Terrance Gore and Billy Hamilton to load the bases with none out. He retired Whit Merrifield on a liner to third base, Adalberto Mondesi on a swinging third strike on an off-speed pitch and Alex Gordon on a called third strike on another off-speed delivery.
“A lot of times a young pitcher will get in that situation and want to try to power his way through it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He did just the opposite. He totally abandoned his fastball and went soft.”
Jorge Soler hit his career-high 15th home run in the sixth inning for Kansas City’s run.
The Royals loaded the bases in the eighth inning with two outs, but Shelby Miller got Cam Gallagher to fly out to center field.
Sampson became the first Texas pitcher with at least 11 strikeouts and no walks since Cole Hamels had 12 with no walks on Sept. 19, 2015 against Seattle.
YOST, UMPIRE NOT IN HARMONY
Yost was expressing his displeasure about Whit Merrifield striking out on a foul tip to end the top of the seventh inning with home plate umpire Todd Tichenor when they were interrupted by the singing of “God Bless America.” The pair then stood side by side at the plate facing center field.
“We were still kind of going after it, still talking about it during ‘God Bless America,'” Yost said. “It’s a tough call for the home plate umpire. Base umpire’s got to see that.”
GALLO TO IL
Rangers CF Joey Gallo, who’s tied with three others for second place in the AL with 17 home runs, was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain that happened in Saturday’s game and will probably miss about two weeks.
“Hopefully it’s going to be a quick trip,” he said.
BIRTHDAY — AND IT’S A BOY
Rangers RHP Chris Martin celebrated his 33rd birthday. After the game at the plate with expectant wife Danielle, he swung easily at a slowly tossed pitch that exploded with blue power as a gender reveal.
SHORT HOPS
Texas scored a second run on a third wild pitch, in the eighth inning by Jake Diekman. … Mondesi hit his major league-leading eighth triple, breaking a tie with Merrifield. … Royals 3B Cheslor Cuthbert had his second career three-hit game.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: C Martin Maldonado, who left Saturday’s game in the sixth inning with right forearm tightness, was available but given the day off.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joey Gallo stood in center field trying not to beat himself up after misplaying two fly balls into triples as he and the Texas Rangers trailed the Kansas City Royals by two runs going into the sixth inning.
Soon enough, Gallo took out his frustrations on the baseball.
Gallo’s first career grand slam capped a six-run, sixth inning outburst as the Rangers rallied past the Royals 6-2 Friday night.
The Rangers have won five of their last six home games while the Royals have lost of four of their last five overall.
Gallo’s home run, his team-leading 16th of the season, sailed 457 feet and landed in the second seating area beyond the center-field wall.
“Things turned around quick,” Gallo said. In his first season playing regularly in center, he also redeemed himself defensively by finishing the game with a diving catch in left-center on a ball hit by Billy Hamilton.
Ariel Jurado (2-2) won for the first time in three major league starts this season. Jurado allowed two runs on five hits and three walks. The second-year right-hander, who was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on April 26, had career highs in strikeouts (six) and pitches (101).
All of that on a night when his parents, Ariel Sr. and Yizel, had traveled from Panama to see him pitch in the majors for the first time.
“That was something special,” Jurado said through an interpreter.
With Jurado outpitched by veteran Royals left-hander Danny Duffy through five innings, Rangers manager Chris Woodward thought his youngster deserved a better fate given the circumstances.
“I’m saying a little prayer ’cause the baseball gods should be with us on this one,” Woodward said. “Like, I was hoping for three (runs).”
Duffy (3-2) lost for the first time since April 26, his first start of the season after recovering from last year’s shoulder injury. Carrying a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning, he allowed all six runs, six hits and two walks — both in the sixth.
“This game will rip your heart out sometimes,” Duffy said. “But I’ve got to turn the page after tonight and go back out there, try to be better next time.”
Texas loaded the bases in the sixth inning on outfield singles by Shin-Soo Choo and Elvis Andrus and a chopper hit between third base and the mound by Hunter Pence. Duffy fielded Pence’s grounder, but his throw to first base was late.
Duffy walked Nomar Mazara with the bases loaded to tie the score 2-2. Gallo then launched a 1-1 fastball to end a six-game homerless streak, which matched his longest this season.
Cheslor Cuthbert homered in his first major league at-bat of the season, and Alex Gordon tripled-in Kansas City’s other run. Cuthbert, who earlier Friday had his contract selected from Triple-A Omaha, hit an opposite-field homer that just cleared the right-field wall in the second and also made a standout play at third base.
“He’s always been a really good defender at third base for us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Cuthbert. “That’s kind of expected.”
Gordon’s triple in the fifth inning turned around Gallo and struck about midway up the wall in straightaway center, scoring Adalberto Mondesi. In the third inning, Gallo broke in on a fly ball hit by Whit Merrifield that went over his head for a triple.
All of that was forgotten in the bottom of the sixth.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kansas City Royals pitcher Jakob Junis is ending the month of May on a satisfactory note.
Junis allowed two runs and four hits in six innings and the Kansas City bullpen helped limit the second-highest scoring offense in the American League to five hits as the Royals snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.
Jorge Soler and Adalberto Mondesi homered as the Royals improved to 8-20 away from Kauffman Stadium, but still have the worst road record in the majors.
Junis (4-5) allowed solo homers to Shin-Soo Choo and Nomar Mazara, and two walks to go with seven strikeouts for his first win since May 1. The victory follows three losses and a no-decision.
“After that first inning, I just stopped trying to try so hard, just letting it come to me and let my body relax,” Junis said. “I slowed things down, and I got pretty sharp there for the rest of the game.”
Ian Kennedy worked a perfect ninth inning for his third save, and the first for Kansas City since May 1.
“We just needed a little bit more offensive production today that we didn’t get,” Rangers manager Chris Woodard said.
Mike Minor (5-4) allowed three runs on seven hits in five-plus innings, matching the most runs he has allowed in his last seven starts. Minor entered the game ranked fourth in the American League in ERA at 2.55, and had given up two earned runs in his previous 30 innings at Globe Life Park.
Soler’s three-run home run struck the foul pole in left field and was his career-best 14th this season. He has 12 RBI in his last nine games.
Mondesi had his fifth three-hit game of the season.
Choo’s homer was his sixth in the last 12 games and the 199th of his career.
Mazara has homered in two of his last three games.
Minor took a four-hit shutout into the sixth inning. After Mondesi left off with a single to left field, left-handed hitting Alex Gordon hit a grounder to the left side against the shift. Third baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera began to field the ball to his left before letting it go through to shortstop Elvis Andrus, whose throw to second base wasn’t in time.
“I think there was a little bit of miscommunication there,” Woodward said of Gordon’s grounder. “He (Cabrera) thought Elvis was going to get it. That’s probably Cabrera’s ball to go after, especially when your momentum is carrying you toward second base.”
Soler then hit a first-pitch fastball at the top of the strike zone.
“He’s not supposed to hit that,” Minor said. “I don’t know how he’s sitting on that when I’m throwing changeups.”
MANHATTAN, Kan. – A traditional evening season opener followed by a pair of 11 a.m., contests opens the 2019 Kansas State football season – the first under head coach Chris Klieman – as the Big 12 Conference and its television partners have announced game times and TV designations for the first three weeks of the season.
The Wildcats’ season opener against Nicholls on August 31 will be played at 6 p.m., and shown exclusively on ESPN+. The following week, K-State hosts Bowling Green in an 11 a.m., matchup shown on FSN, while the Wildcats travel to Mississippi State on September 14 for an 11 a.m., game on either ESPN or ESPN2.
K-State will meet Nicholls for the first time in program history, while the Wildcats will play Bowling Green for a second time after K-State’s 58-0 win in 1997.
Kansas State will look to avenge a 31-10 loss to Mississippi State in Manhattan last season. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 2-1, which includes a 21-16 meeting in Starkville in 1974. K-State will face an SEC opponent for the fourth time in the last six seasons and will travel to SEC territory for the second time in the last three years.
As in years past, all remaining Big 12 game times and television information will be selected on a 12- or six-day basis throughout the season.
Season tickets are on sale for the 2019 season and start at just $150. Single-game tickets go on sale for Ahearn Fund members on Wednesday, June 5, and for the entire public on Monday, June 10. Fans can order tickets online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Television Selections for First Three K-State Football Games
| Date | Opponent | Time | TV | ||||
| August 31 | Nicholls | 6 p.m. | ESPN+ | ||||
| September 7 | Bowling Green | 11 a.m. | FSN | ||||
| September 14 | at Mississippi State | 11 a.m. | ESPN or ESPN2 |
RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics
