Kowar Shines Again as Chasers Take Series

PAPILLION, Neb. – Kansas City took four college pitchers within the top 40 picks of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Three of them – Brady Singer, Chris Bubic and Daniel Lynch – are already in the majors. The fourth, Jackson Kowar, may not be far behind when considering what he did in Omaha in his first Triple-A week.

The former University of Florida star beat St. Paul for the second time in the opening series of the season Sunday, holding the Saints to a run on six hits over five innings in a 6-1 Storm Chasers victory.

Kowar, who shut out St. Paul for 5.1 innings Tuesday, allowed three consecutive hits to the Saints to open his second start. He then held them scoreless for four frames after to earn his second Omaha win.

“There’s some experience up there especially around the top of that order,” he said. “Can’t be giving those guys too many fastball counts in a row. That’s what happened at first. I was able to get into some more leverage counts in my favor there as the game went on and started putting up some more zeroes.”

St. Paul, which finished off an 8-2 win in a game suspended from Saturday night before Sunday’s regular contest, seemingly had Kowar in real trouble in the opening inning. Rob Refsnyder led off with a double, then Tomas Telis and Brent Rooker posted back-to-back singles as the Saints claimed an early 1-0 lead.

But Kowar got Ryan Jeffers to ground into a double play to escape further damage and remained in control the rest of the way. The Chasers moved ahead in the bottom of the first inning and led all game.

Kyle Isbel doubled in the tying run en route to a three-hit day. Kelvin Gutierrez, who recorded three singles, put Omaha ahead to stay with an RBI groundout. Emmanuel Rivera laced a two-run homer to left-center to cap the victory in the seven-inning affair after knocking in a run with a single earlier on.

St. Paul played shorthanded and was forced to have pitcher Andrew Albers bat twice after Jeffers, the designated hitter, was forced to play first when third baseman Drew Maggi was injured. The Saints, who had three catchers playing in the field in Saturday’s game, had multiple guys who were out of position.

The Chasers claimed four victories in the six-game series. Kowar, who notched five strikeouts Sunday after matching his previous career high with nine Tuesday, said he enjoyed the first week of games at Werner Park, which hosted no professional games in 2020 in a season lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s just been nice to get out in front of fans,” he said. “(It is a) beautiful park out here, and you can tell everyone was just itching for some baseball. It was nice to go out there, especially opening night, and get that first one out of the way then just enjoy pitching in front of fans again. I haven’t thrown since 2019 – like that August – in a real game at a real affiliate with fans in the stands. I’ve just enjoyed it.”