WINNIPEG, Man.—The Winnipeg Goldeyes (41-55) made the most of their limited chances early and pulled away late to hand the Sioux City Explorers (61-36) a 7-2 loss in the opener of a four-game set. With the Explorers already locked into postseason play, the result did little to shift the broader picture but gave Winnipeg a solid start to the series.
Austin Drury held the Goldeyes hitless through four frames. Meanwhile, Henry Omana and Zan Rose kept the Explorers off the scoreboard over the same stretch.
The Explorers finally broke through in the top of the fifth inning against Derrick Cherry (3-1). Osvaldo Tovalin and Kurtis Byrne put together back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with one out. Abdiel Layer, who had nine RBI in the series against Sioux Falls, stepped into the box next and smoked a single into left field, driving in his 60th run of the season and putting Sioux City in front 1-0.
The Explorers could not execute the shutdown inning in the bottom of the frame. Drury issued back-to-back walks to Roby Enriquez and Keyshawn Lynch to start the home half of the fifth but retired Tanner O’Tremba on a pop out to first to pick up the first out of the inning. The lefty then walked the number nine batter Kevin Garcia to load the bases. Drury would follow by committing a balk on the first pitch to Jacob Robson to bring home Enriquez to tie the game at one. Robson fouled off the first pitch on the balk but made the most of Drury’s one misstep hitting the second pitch for a three-run homer the opposite way just over the left field wall to extend the lead to 4-1.
Sioux City pulled a bit closer in the eighth. Kurtis Byrne doubled off the wall, and Layer moved him to third on a grounder to second base. The next batter, Austin Davis, lifted a 1-0 pitch deep enough to center field to drive in Byrne and cut into Winnipeg’s lead.
Winnipeg delivered the dagger in the bottom of the eighth, tacking on three runs and taking a 7-2 lead. Sioux City couldn’t gain any ground in the ninth and fell in the series opener despite the pitching staff surrendering just four hits.
The Explorers will face the Goldeyes in game two of the four game series Saturday August 30 at Blue Cross Park in Winnipeg. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The game can be heard on radio at Q102 FM and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.
Playoff tickets for home playoff game number one scheduled for Friday September 5 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:
-Austin Drury now has 324.2 innings as an Explorer under his belt good for fifth all-time for Sioux City.
-Sioux City got their league leading 42 sacrifice.
-The X’s lost despite out hitting the Goldeyes.
-Nate Gercken made his 221 appearances for Sioux City and he now is alone in second place all time in league history.
-Sioux City has stolen just one base over the last two games.
-The X’s are 10-5 on Friday.
-Sioux City will play game one of the playoff next Wednesday September 3 at a site to be determined. The team will play game two and game three (if necessary) on September 5 and 6.