08/12/2018 9:34 PM -
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The T-Bones (50-29) succeeded in making their bats connect with the ball Sunday evening, but not at the right time, as the Sioux City Explorers (59-21) defeated Kansas City 11-3. The T-Bones left eight men stranded in the first five innings, including two in the first, bases loaded in the second, and one in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Sioux City, however, took advantage of early-game opportunities to put runs on the board, bringing home two in the second, four in the fourth and two in the fifth.
In the bottom of the second, Sioux City’s Jose Sermo sent the ball to right center for a triple off T-Bones starting pitcher Lucas Irvine. Jay Baum followed that with a ground ball to the left side to score Sermo and make it 1-0 Sioux City. Irvine was able to knock down a ground ball to retire Blake Schmidt, but the out allowed Baum to move to second. A Dylan Kelly RBI single to right field sent Baum home and put the Explorers up 2-0.
Despite a pair of lead-off doubles in the third and fourth innings, the T-Bones just couldn’t convert the hits to runs. Todd Cunningham led off the third with a double down the left field line and Alay Lago led off the fourth with a stand-up double off the wall in left center. But the Explorers held KC scoreless.
The Explorers tripled their lead in the fourth inning as they kept the line moving with five singles and a triple. Jose Sermo led off with an infield single over the head of Kansas City’s Colin Walsh. Jake Baum then singled with a bunt to the left side and an error by Walsh allowed Sermo to move up to third. Blake Schmit hit into a fielder’s choice that pushed Sermo in for Sioux City’s third run of the game. A ground ball to center by Dexture McCall put runners at the corners with only one out. Dylan Kelly hit a sac fly to right field that scored Schmitt. Daniel Jackson then came to the plate and lined to left field allowing him to reach second. Luis Durango then sealed the painful inning for Kansas City by hitting a triple to left center field that scored two more runs and made the score 6-0 Sioux City.
The fifth inning saw a two-out walk to Colin Walsh, but was followed by a strikeout from Noah Perio Jr.
Nate Samson led off the Explorers half of the fifth inning with a single to center field. A base hit by Blake Schmitt and an error by the right fielder allowed Samson to reach third. Kevin Hill came in for relief of Lucas Irvine, but the first batter he faced in the fifth, Dexture McCall, bounced the ball toward second, it slipped through and allowed both Samson and Schmitt to score. The T-Bones went into the sixth trailing 8-0.
Jackson Lowery came in for Kevin Hill in the bottom of the sixth against the Explorers. After walking three to load the bases, Lowery worked his way out of a jam by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
Ryan Brett led off the seventh with a double to the center field warning track. He advanced to third on a wild pitch to Todd Cunningham. Cunningham then singled to left field to score Brett and make it 8-1 Sioux City.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Explorers added three more runs off reliever Pasquale Mazzoccoli to make it 11-1 Sioux City. An RBI double to center by Daniel Jackson scored Blake Schmit and a sac fly to left by Luis Durango scored Dylan Kelly. Nate Samson then hit an RBI single to right to bring home Jackson.
Joe Filomeno came in the eighth striking out all three batters of the inning. A late rally by the T-Bones in the top of the ninth scored two more for Kansas City. Ryan Brett singled to third base, advanced on a Todd Cunningham single to left field. Colin Walsh pushed the runners up with a single, then Brett and Cunningham scored on a two-RBI single to right by Noah Perio Jr.
Sioux City, who sealed the game early, went on to win by a final score of 11-3. Lucas Irvine (5-4) gets the loss for Kansas City and Luis Mateo (10-4) recorded the win.
Kansas City has an off-day Monday and will return to T-Bones Stadium Tuesday to start a six-game homestand. Fargo-Moorhead will come to town for three games, followed by Cleburne for three.
Season, group tickets, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the Box Office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the Box Office at (913) 328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday – Friday and 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Saturday. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to tbonesbaseball.com and the T-Bones Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.
