Every once in a while a baseball team needs a laugher, and Tuesday night was it for the St. Joseph Mustangs.

The Mustangs (17-8, 13-6 MINK) traveled to Kansas City to play the Mac-N-Seitz A's, and left town with a 12-1 victory and perched atop the MINK League standings.

It would be much easier to talk about who didn't get in on the scoring act.

For one thing, St. Joe was only put out in order one time, during the meaningless ninth inning. The Mustangs scored one in the second, four in the third, two in the fifth and five in the seventh.

"We showed a lot of plate patience, and guys worked their way on," said Mustangs manager Matt Johnson.

Johnny Coy managed three hits on the night and has been on a tear of late.

"Those are the kind of nights we hope to have from him every time we put him in the lineup," Johnson said.

Starting pitcher Zach DeValle, who thought he might miss a start because of shoulder problems, delivered a solid performance. Through five innings, he gave up only one run, which turned out to be harmless.

"He worked ahead in the count and only had one rough inning, but he worked his way out of it," Johnson said.

Because of the shoulder issues, Johnson was hoping to keep DeValle at less than 90 pitches, but the lefty finished the fifth inning right at 90.

St. Joseph nearly emptied the bullpen to finish off the A's, even pitching Ryan Hook for the first time since a couple of exhibition games early in the summer. Hook pitched the bottom of the ninth and mopped up what was left of the A's, throwing two strikeouts.

In addition to a nice pitching performance, Hook added a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

The Mustangs travel to Chillicothe tonight to play the Mudcats at 7 in a game that could prove pivotal come playoff time. The Mustangs return home on Thursday for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Sedalia Bombers.