SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2023
By Austin Thomas and Dan Vaughan
MILKMEN SPOIL SATURDAY NIGHT FOR X’S
SIOUX CITY COMES UP ONE OUT SHORT
MILWAUKEE –It was the Sioux City Explorers’ (13-14) eighth one-run loss of the season as they fell 6-5 to the Milwaukee Milkmen in another heartbreaker Saturday night at Franklin Field.
The Milkmen would add to the Explorers’ tough luck in the home half of the ninth off Kent Hasler. Reggie Pruitt Jr. singled to start the frame and would steal second. Hasler would walk Rudy Martin to put two on with no outs, forcing Nate Gercken into relief for Sioux City. With Bryan Torres at the plate, Pruitt Jr. would be thrown out trying to steal third base by Wilfredo Gimenez for the first out of the inning. Torres would draw a walk, but Gercken would get Cam Belago to pop out to short for the second out of the inning. Gercken would then walk Gabriel Cancel to load the bases. Justin Williams would step in and deliver an RBI single that just snuck through the right side of the infield to score two runs and win it for Milwaukee.
It was another rough start for the X’s, being shutout in the first inning by Milkmen starter Jose Fuentes before the Milwaukee offense scored one off Sioux City newcomer Trenton Toplikar. The good start for the Milkmen quickly turned sour with the X’s tying it up in the second on a Kyle Kasser RBI on a fielder’s choice to make it 1-1. The Explorers added four more runs in the third inning, finding a one-out solo home run from Vince Fernandez before Daniel Perez hit a three-run bomb late in the inning to make it 5-1. Trenton Toplikar ended his debut outing for the X’s with a perfect third inning.
The comeback began when the Milkmen went to the bullpen in the top of the fourth. Right-hander Gregori Vasquez took over and retired the next 14 batters he faced for the Milkmen. The X’s would pick up a seventh inning two-out single off the righty, but it was his five shutout innings that set the stage for the comeback as Milwaukee went to work down 5-1.
The Milkmen cut the lead in half on a two-run homer from catcher Balego in the fifth inning off Sioux City reliever Heitor Tokar to make it 5-3. The sixth inning didn’t feature any more runs, but in the seventh, the Milkmen made it even closer with a Cancel RBI single off Hasler, his first run allowed this season, to make it 5-4. Hasler looked good in the eighth inning as Milkmen batters were sat down one-two-three by Trevin Reynolds (1-1) who picked up the relief win. That set up the heroic ninth for the Milkmen as they came back from a 5-1 deficit to walk it off, winning their tenth game of the last 11. The X’s fell back below .500 after the loss at 13-14. The setback was the tenth loss for Sioux City where the deficit was two runs or fewer.
The Explorers will play the final game of their three-game series with the Milwaukee Milkmen Sunday afternoon, June 11 at 1:05 p.m. The team returns home Tuesday, June 13 to begin a three-game series with the Gary SouthShore Railcats. Tickets for the season can be purchased online at XSBaseball.com, in person at the Lewis and Clark Park Box Office or by calling 712-277-WINS. You can catch all the X’s action on aabaseball.tv and on radio at KSCJ 94.9 FM and 1360 AM.