KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier hit back-to-back home runs leading off the ninth inning against Cleveland closer Cody Allen to lift the Kansas City Royals over the Indians 5-4 on Friday night.

After a broken water pipe near the outfield fountains led to a half-hour delay in the fourth, the Royals and Indians put on a splashy finish.

Cleveland’s Yonder Alonso hit his second homer of the game in the eighth, a two-run shot for a 4-3 lead. Alonso also had a solo shot in the fourth, moments before the right field warning track flooded.

O’Hearn and Dozier then rescued Kansas City from a sixth straight loss with their homers off Allen (4-5). O’Hearn, a rookie first baseman, tied it with a blast into the left field bullpen, and Dozier followed with a wall-scraper to right-center field.

Allen has blown four saves this season and let his ERA rise to 4.50. Wily Peralta (1-0) got the victory for Kansas City, which had just been swept over four games by Tampa Bay.

Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez promised a wheelchair-bound fan, Colin Couch, that he would hit a home run after meeting him on the field before the game, according to the team’s Twitter page and broadcaster Steve Physioc.

After Whit Merrifield opened the game with a walk and Alex Gordon followed with a single, Perez made good on the promise by smashing a 454-foot, opposite-field home run — the longest home run for the Royals this season — into Kauffman Stadium’s iconic right field fountains.

A pipe burst near those fountains a few innings later, delaying the game for 30 minutes. Water began leaking onto the field with two outs in the top of the fourth. Relievers in the Royals’ bullpen yelled to alert stadium and game officials to the problem, triggering the stoppage.

As maintenance personnel worked to stop the flow of water, more than a dozen grounds crew members armed with squeegees wicked water from the warning track as it poured from under the fence. They created a sandbag barrier to keep standing water from reaching the outfield grass.

Rookie right-hander Brad Keller shrugged off the unusual delay, which came after Yan Gomes’ double, and struck out Greg Allen to get of the inning with the lead.

Home plate umpire Ramon DeJesus ejected Royals bench coach Dale Sveum during Brantley’s at-bat leading off the eighth inning. It was Sveum’s 16th career ejection — 10 as a manager, five as an assistant coach and once as a player.

The Junction City Commission has tabled the awarding of a bid for a full infield renovation at Rathert Field.

A local group wants to turf the field, and has asked the Commission to wait on the planned renovation of the grass field. Group spokesman Brian Field asked for the two-week delay so they can get local entities together to develop a collaborative plan. ” If you talk to utilizing the facility, some of the teams from out of town they’re starting to realize that the play ability with the field, some of the safety issues with the lip, what not.”

One of the areas targeted for improvement is the lip at the edge of the infield – outfield area.

The request for a two-week delay was granted.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State senior offensive tackle Dalton Risner was named to two All-America teams on Wednesday as he picked up first-team honors from ESPN and USA Today.

The honors for Risner are in addition to being named a First Team Preseason All-American by Athlon, and a second-team honoree by Street & Smith’s and CBSSports.com earlier this summer. Additionally, Sports Illustrated listed Risner as one of the Top 100 College Football Players of 2018, checking in at No. 50.

Risner, a product of Wiggins, Colorado, was one of three Big 12 players on ESPN’s list, joining West Virginia’s Will Grier (QB) and David Sills V (WR). Risner and Sills were the only Big 12 representatives on USA Today’s first team.

A 38-game starter, Risner anchored the right tackle spot in all 12 regular-season games last season, earning First Team All-America accolades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and second-team honors from CBSSports.com. He graded out at a 90.3 mark during the regular season according to PFF, including a 98.9 mark on pass blocking efficiency to tie for the fourth highest among FBS tackles. Risner led the Wildcats to a tie for third place in school history in rushing yards per carry (4.98), while they finished seventh in program history with 2,584 total rushing yards.

Just the fifth three-time team captain in program history, Risner is on the watch list for the 2018 Outland Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy, while he is a candidate for the AFCA Good Works Team.

Receiving votes in both the preseason Amway Coaches’ and Associated Press polls, Kansas State opens the 2018 season next Saturday with a 6:10 p.m., contest against South Dakota inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The 10th-annual K-State Family Reunion game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

The Wildcats then host 18th-ranked Mississippi State on September 8 at 11 a.m., in a game televised by ESPN before closing out non-conference play at home against UTSA on September 15, at 3 p.m., on FSN.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State fans will have seven opportunities to preview the 2018 Wildcats prior to next Saturday’s season opener as FOX Sports Midwest will air the K-State Football Preseason Special beginning this Saturday.

The one-hour show will air on FOX Sports Midwest at 4:30 p.m., on Saturday, Aug. 25, and will then be replayed on Sunday, Aug. 26 (6:30 p.m.), Monday, Aug. 27 (11 p.m.), Tuesday, Aug. 28 (10:30 a.m.), Thursday, Aug. 30 (1 p.m.) and twice on Friday, Aug. 31 (1 p.m.; 5:30 p.m.).

The 2018 K-State Football Preseason Special is hosted by the Voice of the Wildcats, Wyatt Thompson, along with head coach Bill Snyder and includes an inside look at the Wildcat offense, defense and special teams, a breakdown segment hosted by color commentator Stan Weber, as well as an analysis of the upcoming 2018 schedule and individual player features.

K-State, which is receiving votes in both the preseason Amway Coaches’ and Associated Press polls, embarks on the 2018 campaign next Saturday with a 6:10 p.m., contest against South Dakota inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game, which serves as the 10^th-annual K-State Family Reunion, will be broadcast on ESPN3.

The Wildcats then host No. 18 Mississippi State on September 8 at 11 a.m., in a game televised by ESPN before closing out non-conference play at home against UTSA on September 15, at 3 p.m., on FSN.

Wildcat 4 Packs that include four reserved tickets are available for K-State’s seven home games, which are priced at $85 for UTSA, $99 for South Dakota, $125 for Texas Tech, $149 for Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas; and $199 for Mississippi State. Fans can order those, or single game tickets, online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main athletics ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

2018 K-State Sports Network Football on FOX Sports Midwest

Day                                        Time

Saturday, Aug. 25             4:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 28                6:30 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 27              11 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 28              10:30 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 30             1 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 31                   12 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 31                   5:30 p.m.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Tickets for Kansas State’s matchup with Vanderbilt in the Wildcat Classic on Saturday, December 22 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City will go on sale to the general public at 8:30 a.m., CT on Monday, August 27, athletic department officials announced today.

Tickets are available through the K-State Athletic Ticket Office at (800) 221.CATS and at www.kstatesports.com/tickets. Fans can also order through all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling (800) 745.3000 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com.

Tickets are priced at $150 for courtside, $50 for lower-level sides, $25 for lower-level corners and $15 for lower-level ends and upper-level sides at the Sprint Center. Tickets for groups of 12 or more people start at just $5.

Student tickets will be priced at $5 and will be available beginning Monday, November 5, for ICAT pass holders; Tuesday, November 6 for general admission combo pass holders; and Wednesday, November 7 for all other students. Students can purchase their Wildcat Classic tickets in person at the Bramlage Coliseum ticket office or online through their ticket account. Physical tickets will be distributed via mail or will call.

The game will mark the eighth Wildcat Classic game at Sprint Center and the first since 2016. Last season, K-State earned an 84-79 win over Vanderbilt in the first meeting between the schools since 1994 at historic Memorial Gym in Nashville on December 3, 2017.

The Wildcats return 10 lettermen, including six players who combined to start all 37 games, from a squad that won 25 games and advanced to the Elite Eight for the 12^th time in school history and the first time since 2010. The Commodores will boast one of the top recruiting classes in the country, which includes a pair of 5-star freshmen.

Season tickets are currently on sale for K-State’s 16-game home schedule at Bramlage Coliseum. Fans have a variety of ticket packages from which to choose, including the Pick 5 mini plan. Tickets can be purchased toll free at (800) 221.CATS, online at www.kstatesports.com and/or in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office.

– www.k-statesports.com —

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence located in America’s No. 1 College Town (Manhattan, KS).

————
TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

CHICAGO (AP) — Omar Narvaez homered and drove in the go-ahead run with a single, Chicago relievers tossed seven scoreless innings and the White Sox rallied from a six-run deficit for a 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Avisail Garcia and Tim Anderson also homered for Chicago, which has won four of five.

Hector Santiago (5-3) allowed just two hits in four innings of relief to get the win. Jace Fry, the last of six relievers, got the final two outs for his second save.

Ryan O’Hearn, Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon homered for Kansas City, which dropped to 2-13 in the rubber game of series this season.

White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order in the first, but was rocked for six runs and three homers (on 46 pitches) in the second. O’Hearn started things with a two-run shot, Merrifield made it 5-0 with a three-run blast and Gordon added a solo shot. Gordon’s homer was the 169th of his career, tying Hal McRae for fourth in Royals history.

Kansas City starter Heath Fillmyer allowed just one hit in the first three innings, but then suddenly lost it. The right-hander faced six batters in the fourth and didn’t record an out.

Jose Abreu and Daniel Palka had back-to-back singles to start things and Garcia hit a three-run homer to trim the deficit in half. After Nicky Delmonico singled, Anderson homered to make it 6-5. Narvaez followed with a solo blast to tie the score and chase Fillmyer.

In the fifth, Narvaez gave the White Sox a 7-6 lead with a two-out RBI single off Brian Flynn (3-4), scoring Garcia from second base.

PROMOTED

An angler from Campbellsville University in Kentucky, Nick Ratliff, is headed to the prestigious Bassmaster Classic. He won the 2018 Carharrt Bassmaster Series College Bracket tournament at Milford Lake on Thursday.

The final outcome was close, with Ratliff catching 13 pounds 8 ounces and the second place finisher Nolan Minor of West Virginia reeling in a total of 13 pounds 4 ounces. Ratliff caught the winning smallmouth bass fish weighing over 2 pounds with just 11 minutes remaining in the tournament to edge Minor. “I had no clue it was the winning fish but I knew that once I got up over 13 pounds, from everything I’ve looked at on this lake it’s a really strong day.”

Ratliff receives a berth in the prestigious Bassmaster Classic next March in Tennessee, a $7,500 cash stipend, and the use of a Toyota Tundra truck and a Nitro Bass Boat for one year.

 

The first ever intersquad bout for the Stone Cold Foxes roller derby team was held recently at Spin City in Junction City. They were split into two teams.

The Rabid Foxes defeated the Sly Foxes in this match 224-55.

In two weeks the team will compete in an eight-team tournament in Salina with other squads from Kansas, Colorado and Missouri.