X's finish regular season with 9-0 win over St. Paul
Published on August 23, 2008 under American Association (AA)
Sioux City Explorers News Release
SIOUX CITY, IA -- One night after clinching a spot in the playoffs, Sioux City kept their roll going as Chad Gabriel hit an inside the park HR and Sam Walker hit a 2 run double to lead the X's past the Saints 9-0 Saturday night in front of a packed Lewis & Clark Park.
On Friday night, the X's didn't get a hit until Chad Gabriel homered leading off the 3rd inning off of Mark Romanczuk. The same happened in this game, but this time Gabriel hit a shot to center that converted infielder Ron Fenwick misplayed and Gabriel raced all the way around the bases for his third HR of the season. Tug Gillingham followed with a base hit, stole 2nd, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a hit by Derek Schermerhorn. Dustin Jones would walk and Walker would drill a 2 run double to right. Juan Senreiso would add a RBI single and the X's had a 5 run 3rd inning.
Sioux City would pour on the offense, scoring 1 run in the 5th on a RBI single by Alex Llanos; 1 run in the 6th on a RBI grounder by Jason Tuttle after a leadoff double by Juan Camacho; 1 run in the 7th on a RBI single by Senreiso; and 1 run in the 8th on a RBI single by Dustin Jones.
X's manager Les Lancaster would use 5 different pitchers that would combine on a 5 hit shutout. Tim Layden started and went 2 innings, followed by 2 innings by Steve Russell, 1 by Cameron Cheek, and 2 innings each by Michael Gibbs and Tony O'Donnell. Russell would get the win, improving to 1-0. Romanczuk took the loss, falling to 4-3.
Llanos extended his hitting streak to 12 games to end the season and finished with a team high 60 RBI. Walker, Gillingham, Schermerhorn, Jones, and Senreiso each finished with 2 hits.
With the win, Sioux City won the season series against St. Paul, going 10-9 versus the Saints. The X's tie a franchise record for wins in a single season, going 52-44 in 2008. Sioux City had won 52 games in 1994, a team that lost in the Northern League finals.
The X's will now face Sioux Falls in the Northern Divisional Series, which is best of 5. Game One will be Monday night in Sioux Falls and the Canaries will start Pat Mahomes while the Explorers are still undecided about their playoff rotation. Game time is 7:05 with coverage on 1360 KSCJ and xsbaseball.com.
American Association Stories from August 23, 2008
- Come cheer on your Xs - Sioux City Explorers
- Fort Worth defeats El Paso - El Paso Diablos
- Lincoln doubles up Wichita to end 2008 season - Lincoln Saltdogs
- Another sellout crowd watches Wingnuts close out inaugural season - Wichita Wingnuts
- X's finish regular season with 9-0 win over St. Paul - Sioux City Explorers
- Canaries finish regular season with 9-6 win - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Saints Drop Season Finale 9-0 - St. Paul Saints
- Steve Shirley - American Association Manager of the Year - AA
- Steve Shirley named Manager of the Year - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Beau Torbert named Player of the Year - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Explorers annouce playoff tickets on sale - Sioux City Explorers
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