SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—The Sioux City Explorers (59–33) struck first but couldn’t sustain their momentum in the finale of a brief two-game set, falling 5–3 to the Sioux Falls Canaries (53–39). Strong starting pitching shaped much of the contest, but the Canaries rallied late to seize control as the sun dipped behind the southeastern South Dakota horizon.
For the second straight night, Josh Day got the scoring started. The Mississippi native stepped to the plate with D’Shawn Knowles on second and nobody out in the second inning and poked a single to right field to give Sioux City an early 1–0 lead.
Jabari Henry responded with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third, putting the Canaries ahead. That would be the last bit of offense for a while.
Canaries’ starter Tanner Brown settled in after the early hiccup. He retired 11 straight batters from the third through the sixth, while Austin Drury kept the Explorers within one.
It was in the seventh that Sioux City tied the ballgame.
Day walked to open the frame, and two outs later, he stood at second base. Kurtis Byrne, hitless in his last 26 at-bats, stepped to the dish. The catcher came through, punching a single into right field that brought home Day and evened the score at two apiece.
The Canaries battled back in the ensuing half-inning, putting runners at second and third with none out when Peter Zimmerman broke the tie with an RBI single. The next batter, Scott Combs, drove a deep fly ball out to left for a sacrifice fly to push the Canary lead to 4-2, chasing Drury from the game.
Rookie right-hander Ryan Beaird took over for Sioux City and held off any further damage, while Kody Dalen took over for Brown in the top of the eighth inning. Dalen allowed a single to Austin Davis to begin his outing and made an error, allowing the speedster to advance to second. The next batter, Henry George, lined an RBI single to right to get the Explorers back within one, but luck wasn’t on their side.
Henry George attempted a steal of second base later in the inning. He was controversially called out on the play, causing manager Steve Montgomery to get ejected for arguing and snuffing out the rally.
Sioux Falls tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach as right-hander Charlie Hasty closed out the ballgame for the Canaries, earning his tenth save of the 2025 season.
The X’s will return home Sunday August 24 to face Sioux Falls before an off day Monday August 25 followed by the resumption of the four-game series with Sioux Falls on Tuesday August 26. 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.