Explorers Open September with a Win
September 1, 2024 - American Association (AA)
Sioux City Explorers News Release
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The calendar flipped on Sunday from August to September, and the Sioux City Explorers (48-51) flipped their recent script of a three-game losing streak to the tune of a 7-4 win over the Cleburne Railroaders (60-39) at Lewis and Clark Park.
John Sheaks (3-6) matched a season-high eight strikeouts over 5.1 innings, holding the Railroaders potent offense to eight hits and three earned runs to pick up the win. Sheaks gave up a double to the first batter of the game, Brian O'Grady, then retired the next 10 batters before a single with one out in the fourth.
Sioux City took the lead in the first inning on a Scott Ota RBI double off Luke Boyd (7-3). In the second inning, Sioux City loaded the bases off Boyd who would walk Daniel Montano to force in a run and make it 2-0 Explorers.
Cleburne got on the board in the fifth with back-to-back home runs from Thomas Dillard and Carter Aldrete off Sheaks to tie the game at two in the fifth. The X's would come right back and take the lead in the bottom of the home half of the fifth. Sioux City got a two-out double from Ota who came home on a double from Daniel Perez to retake the lead 3-2. Nick Shumpert reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners. Shumpert stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Daniel Lingua. The X's third baseman would line a ball down the left field line to score two, and the lead jumped to 5-2.
Sheaks would surrender a run on an RBI single to Trey Bigford to cut the lead to 5-3 and force the Explorers to go to the pen in the top of the sixth. Brandon Brosher would get the final two outs and take the game to the bottom of the frame for Sioux City, still leading by a pair. In the home half of the sixth, Jake Green reached on a walk issued by Theo McDowell. He would steal second and go to third on an errant throw by Blake Grant-Parks on the stolen base attempt. D'Shawn Knowles would hit a sacrifice fly to score Green to make it 7-3 in favor of the Explorers.
Sioux City got another run in the seventh on another sac fly by Lingua to up the lead to 7-3. The Railroaders picked up a run in the top of the ninth with two outs off of Kyle Marman on an RBI single from Jesus Lujano to close the gap to a 7-4 final.
The X's Daniel Lingua- with three stolen bases in the game- tied the organization's single-season high of 48 bags set by Danny Amaral back in 2022.
The Explorers will wrap up the 2024 regular season with the final game of the four-game series against the Cleburne Railroaders Monday, September 2 at 1:05 p.m. Sioux City will open the American Association Division round one of the playoffs Wednesday, September 4 at 7:05 p.m.at Lewis and Clark Park against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Tickets for remaining games as well as any playoff games are available at the Lewis and Clark box office or online. More information is available by calling the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers social media channels and the club's website xsbaseball.com for all our news and updates.
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