KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It was a slow start in the 3-1 win for the Monarchs on Tuesday night at Legends Field.
It was a battle of the pitchers between winning Monarchs RHP Justin Shaffer (2-1) and losing RailCats RHP Jack Alkrie (1-3) in the first six innings with six strikeouts each.
“It was [Shaffer’s] best outing,” Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra said, “He had most control of everything--his pitches, his body--he was just in total command of the game.”
Gary SouthShore scored one run in the fourth inning, unequaled until the sixth when Kansas City ended the inning with runs scored by Morgan McCullough, Darnell Sweeney and Ryan Grotjohn.
“[McCullough] does an outstanding job,” Calfapietra said, “No matter what role you put him in, he gets outs, we wouldn’t be in this situation without him,”
Kansas City (13-10) and Gary SouthShore (13-13) will meet for the second game of the series at 1 p.m. today.