Sioux City Claims Wild Wednesday Night Win

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AA Sioux City Explorers

Sioux City Claims Wild Wednesday Night Win

May 29, 2025 - American Association (AA)
Sioux City Explorers News Release


Kansas City, Kan. - After getting shutout, the Sioux City Explorers (11-7) finally produced big-time offensive numbers, scoring eight times against the Kansas City Monarchs (12-5), gaining a game in the West Division standings Wednesday night at Legends Field. Torin Montgomery and Henry George each recorded three hits in a 17-hit effort, while Abdiel Layer became the first Sioux City Explorer to rack up four hits in a game. The X's held on for the 11-8 victory.

The offense for both teams was on display early, but they got the scoring started. Kansas City's starter Julian Garcia struck out Austin Davis to begin the game, but Henry George hustled himself into scoring position with a bloop double to center field. Torin Montgomery, who was slotted third in the batting order for the first time this season, cashed in with a ground rule double. The X's took a 1-0 lead.

Zach Willeman (1-2), who was dueling Garcia for the second time this season, dominated through the first two frames, but in the bottom of the third, Kansas City's top-notch offense came to life. Alvaro Gonzalez tied the game with a solo home run. Former Kansas City Royal Jorge Bonifacio doubled, then Willeman walked Isiah Gilliam and had to face the dangerous Aussie Robbie Glendinning. The slugger made the righty pay and slammed a three-run blast over the Home Run Patio in left field, giving the Monarchs a 4-1 lead.

The X's offense, which had plated one in the first, fell silent until the fifth inning. A slumping Kurtis Byrne strolled to the plate just one for his last 15 at-bats and crushed a solo shot deep to the left-center field.

Kansas City struck back to bring the lead back to three runs on Jhailyn Ortiz's RBI single. The Monarchs held what felt like a commanding 5-2 lead heading into the sixth, where Sioux City erupted offensively.

Torin Montgomery led off with his third home run of the year, then Luis Toribio doubled. That was the end of Julian Garcia's night as he was lifted for former Major Leaguer Jake Brentz (1-1).

Abdiel Layer smacked an RBI double off the wall, just missing a game-tying home run. Josh Day kept the inning going with an opposite-field single to right field, tying the game at five. Nick Shumpert struck out for the first out of the inning, but that didn't slow the X's down at all. Hunter McMahon replaced Brentz and immediately allowed a sacrifice fly from Zac Vooletich, giving the X's their first lead since it was 1-0 after one frame. Vooletich scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 7-5 before the Monarchs finally retired the side. The X's taking the lead did not come without stress, though.

It took three pitchers and a bases-loaded chance for the X's to get out of the sixth inning. Neither Brendan O'Donnell nor Chase Jessee could work through the frame, but Roy Garcia slammed the door as he struck out Glendinning with the bases juiced, preserving the lead.

Sioux City tacked on a run in the top of the seventh, thanks to Layer's RBI single, but again, the uneasy feeling returned.

After the seventh-inning stretch, Roy Garcia loaded the bases with two outs, bringing the dangerous Alvaro Gonzalez to the dish. Garcia forced a ground ball to third base and left the bases loaded for the third consecutive inning.

Nate Gercken relieved Garcia and only faced Bonifacio, who singled to open the bottom of the eighth inning. Jaren Jackson superseded Gercken on the bump and recorded two outs before Jailyn Ortiz homered to bring the game within one as the X's still led 8-7. That would be it for Jackson, and the X's brought in their seventh pitcher of the night, Felix Cepeda (3). For the second straight inning, the X's would use three separate pitchers to navigate through the frame. The Dominican righty forced Jaylyn Williams to ground out to third base, ending the inning.

Sioux City scored three more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, keeping all the pressure on the Monarchs. Just like they did all night, the Kansas City Monarchs were not about to make the ninth inning easy.

Two walks and a single loaded the bases with just one out for Kansas City. The flame-throwing Cepeda struck out the vicious bat of Jorge Bonifacio and faced the mighty Isiah Gilliam, representing a tying run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Not wanting arguably the best power hitting in the league to beat them, the X's willingly issued a four-pitch walk, bringing Glendinning, who had already homered earlier in the game, to the plate, this time representing the winning run. Cepeda snuck a 1-2 fastball on the outside corner to strike out the Aussie, securing the win and relaxing the heart rate of the fans throughout Siouxland.

Even with the win, the Explorers walked nine batters and forced Kansas City to leave twelve men on base throughout the game. Abdiel Layer's four hits marked the most for a Sioux City Explorer since August 19th of last season.

Notes from the booth:

-The Explorers reached a season high in hits with 17.

-11 runs matched a season high.

-Nine extra base hits a season high.

The two teams battle for a series victory in the rubber match tomorrow in the final game of the three-game series. The first pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. Thursday night at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. The game can be heard on radio at KSCJ 94.9 FM and 1360 AM and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv. After the three-game series, the Explorers return home to take on the Cleburne Railroaders for a three-game set Friday May 30 to Sunday June 1. Ticket packages for the 2025 season are on sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10-, 15-, and 25-game Flex Packs. 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.

TUNE INTO ALL THE EXPLORERS ACTION ON KSCJ AND AABASEBALL.TV.

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