SIOUX CITY, Iowa—The Sioux Falls Canaries (54–39) clawed past the Sioux City Explorers (59–34) in a tense 10-inning battle, escaping with an 8–6 win to tighten the race in the American Association West. The loss snapped Sioux City’s streak of success behind Kyle Marman and added another twist to this high-stakes six-game stretch.
Coming into the matchup, the Explorers had won Kyle Marman’s last 11 starts. The newly crowned Sioux City single-season strikeout sultan induced flyouts to right from his first two batters and nearly made it three in a row. But Jordan Barth sent another fly ball to right that kept carrying, clearing the wall by inches to give Sioux Falls a 1–0 lead.
Sioux City answered in the bottom of the second. Josh Day lined a one-out double into the left-center gap, and Michael Quiñones followed with a sharp single to center. Matt Ruiz, the center fielder, faked a catch attempt, forcing Day to hesitate before advancing. He eventually scored to tie the game when Barth, the shortstop, dropped Ruiz’s peg from center.
The Canaries put two on with one out in the top of the third, and Mike Hart made Marman pay. The veteran outfielder crushed the right-hander’s 1–0 pitch over the wall in right-center to put his club back on top.
Down 4-1 in the bottom of the third, the Explorers went to work. Austin Davis served a single through the right side, and Henry George crushed Thomas Dorminy’s 2-0 pitch over the wall for a two-run blast to bring the X’s within a run. Sioux City evened the game at four later in the inning when Day punched a single to right, bringing home Zac Vooletich.
Marman seemed to settle in after Hart’s big fly, sending the first two batters of the fourth inning down on strikes, but Ruiz singled to extend the inning and then swiped second base to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Jabari Henry, the American Association’s all-time home run king, smashed a single into center field to put the Canaries back in front.
Sioux City would counter in the bottom of the fifth. Nathan Culley retired the first two batters of the frame, but D’Shawn Knowles reached on an error and Day walked, bringing up Quiñones. Manager Steve Montgomery called for a hit-and-run, and Quiñones executed it to perfection, drilling a single through the left side to bring Knowles around and tie the ball game at five.
The fireworks subsided after Sioux City plated the equalizer. Nate Gercken worked through a scoreless seventh while Ben DeTaeye kept Sioux Falls off the board in the eighth and ninth. The X’s came up small in the bottom of the ninth against Ryan Richardson (4-2) as they plunged into their 15th extra-inning affair.
Felix Cepeda (6-3) took the mound in the top of the tenth inning with Ruiz starting the frame at second. The Dominican flamethrower walked Henry, and Barth sacrificed both runners into scoring position. Calvin Estrada bounced out to shortstop for the second out and Cepeda worked ahead of Hart who drove the right-hander’s 1-2 into the gap in right-center field. Knowles made every effort to get to the baseball, but it eluded his glove and bounced to the wall, scoring both runs as Hart ended up at third with a triple. Josh Rehwaldt hopped in the box next and delivered an RBI single to push the lead to 8-5.
The X’s are off tomorrow before the four-game set continues at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday. The series finishes on Thursday August 28th and then the Explorers end the regular season on the road with a four-game series against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. The game can be heard on radio at KSCJ 94.9 FM and 1360 AM and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.
Playoff tickets for home playoff game number one are on sale now at the Lewis and Clark Box Office or online at xsbaseball.com. Tickets for all remaining Explorers home games are also available at the ticket office or by going online. For more information, please call 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.
Notes from the Booth with DV:
-Sioux City saw their lead in the West Division shrink to three games over Kansas City with seven to play.
-Sioux City’s magic number is 4 for the West Division crown and has not moved in two days.
-Austin Davis extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
-The X’s are 9-6 on Sunday
-The season series is now tied at 7-7.
-The two teams meet for four games in Sioux City.
-Nate Gercken pitched his 219 game as an Explorer and needs one to tie second all-time in league history.
-Josh Day and Henry George each had their 28th multi-hit game.
-The X’s now have 253 stolen bases.
-Josh Day has five RBI in the last three games.
-Iowa Hawkeye Ben DeTaeye tossed two scoreless innings.