KANSAS CITY, Kan—The Sioux City Explorers (35-21) leaned on their signature speed and a dominant eight strikeout start from Angel Macuare (1-0) to outlast the Kansas City Monarchs (33-21) in a 7-5 win at Legends Field. With the victory, the X’s took the series and nudged ahead by a game atop the West Division standings.
The American Association’s premier base-stealing team wasted no time showing off its speed. Austin Davis legged out a leadoff infield single and swiped second three pitches later. Henry George worked a walk, and the duo executed a double steal to perfection.
The Explorers manufactured two runners into scoring position, but only Davis crossed the plate. Osvaldo Tovalin broke the short-lived scoreless tie, rolling over to first base for an RBI groundout.
Macuare set the tone in the bottom of the inning, breezing through a 1-2-3 shutdown inning. Building off his strong first outing, the right-hander strung together seven hitless frames to open his Explorers career.
Davis collected another base hit, a one-out double in the third, and Zac Vooletich plated him with a single off the left field wall. The former Texas Tech Red Raider extended his hitting streak to 13 games with the knock, the longest streak of any Explorer this season.
Sioux City doubled its lead in the fourth inning, but Macuare faced his first tumultuous inning as an Explorer in the bottom of the frame. He walked the first John Nogowski, and Ross Adolph found a hole with a Texas Leaguer to left field.
The next batter, Robbie Glendinning, bounced to Tovalin at first, who tried to turn two, but his throw sailed into left field, allowing Nogowski to cross the plate and put Kansas City on the board.
The X’s offense kept plugging away in the fifth as George blasted a ground-rule double to right-center. Vooletich stepped up next, singling him home and extending Sioux City’s lead to 5-1. The X’s chased Kansas City starter Grant Gambrell (1-1) from the game before he could finish the inning.
Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra went to his pen and turned to Patrick Pridgen. Josh Day greeted the right-hander with an RBI single as X’s continued to push their run-scoring agenda, increasing their advantage to 6-1.
The newly acquired Alex McGarry homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth inning, marking the first time Macuare allowed an earned run as an Explorer. The Venezuelan righty responded by striking out the next two hitters and forcing former Explorer Nogowski to pop out to retire the side.
Jaren Jackson took over for Macuare in the sixth and faced the minimum. The Explorers cranked out another run in the seventh.
The late-inning mojo for Sioux City deteriorated as the Monarchs scratched two across in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, Jorge Bonifacio belted his second home run of the series as Kansas City shortened the deficit to 7-5.
Cepeda came on for the ninth and saved his league-leading 15th game. The Explorers headed into Legends Field and came out with a series victory and a one-game lead in the West.
The X’s head to Cleburne to take on the Railroaders for a three-game weekend set. First pitch on Friday is at 7:06 p.m. 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. 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.