Sierra Doubles Gives Explorers Victory in Opener
By Austin Thomas, Sioux City Explorers
SIOUX CITY, Iowa –The Sioux City Explorers (25-25) continued their winning ways against the Cleburne Railroaders (27-24) Thursday night, defeating them 6-5. The Explorers get back to .500 for the first time since June 10 as the win streak reaches four.
The X’s opened with a huge first inning, starting with Sioux City’s Matt Lloyd scoring on a Vince Fernandez double off Cleburne starter Travis Perry, giving the Explorers the 1-0 lead. X’s Miguel Sierra and Fernandez both scored when Tyler Rando knocked a single off Railroaders Perry in his first at bat off the injured list, making it 3-0 Sioux City. The Explorers added one more run in the first when Daniel Perez grounded out, sending home Jake Ortega and extending the X’s lead 4-0.
Cleburne began to chug back in the third inning when Railroaders Blaze Brothers and Keshawn Lynch scored on a Zach Nehrir single off Sioux City starter Heitor Tokar, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Cleburne came back in the fifth when Keshawn Lynch went home on Blaze Brothers’ first professional home run off Explorers reliever Francys Peguero(1-1), tying it 4-4.
The X’s found the lead again in the sixth inning when Sioux City’s Chase Harris and Delvin Zinn reached base against Cleburne reliever Miguel Ausua (2-1) before crossing home on a Sierra double off Railroader reliever Michael Wong, making it 6-4 Explorers.
The Railroaders frightened the X’s in the ninth, cutting the lead to one when Cleburne’s Guillermo Quintana scored on an Alex Jackson RBI single off Explorers closer Sean Rackoski, making it 6-5 with one out and a runner on third. Sioux City’s Rackoski fought back, striking out Railroaders Brian Klein and inducing a pop up from Brothers to close it out for the save (9).
The Explorers homestand continues Friday night July 7 with game two of the four-game series with the Cleburne Railroaders with a first pitch at 7:05 p.m. 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.
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