Sioux City, IA– The Kansas City T-Bones’ (47-38) bats went cold tonight, allowing the Sioux City Explorers to creep back to a half game behind the T-Bones and give Kansas City their first shutout loss of the season, 5-0.

Christian Binford (4-3) got the loss after four innings pitched and a total of nine hits let up. Sioux City took Binford down the left field line twice to account for three runs in the bottom of the second. Binford ended the night with a positive note of only throwing one walk, which was his 12th since signing with the T-Bones on June 16th. Winning Pitcher Sam Held (2-0) for the Explorers threw his first start since last season after being a long reliever for Sioux City. The experiment worked well with Held’s final line being eight hits, no runs and six punchouts in five innings.

The T-Bones had eleven hits, almost tying Sioux City who had twelve. Kansas City had a total of fourteen left on base with seven in the first three innings alone. Sioux City was efficient with moving runners, using big hits to left field, going down the left field line, and seeing-eye singles to threaten the KCK defense. Six of the nine innings started with the lead-off man aboard with either a walk or a single. 

The Explorers saw the ball out of Christian Binford’s hand in the second inning, giving Sebastian Zawada one RBI, Kyle Wren a 2-RBI double, and Nate Samson a RBI double. Andrew DiPiazza got his professional debut, starting his first inning in the fifth by loading the bases with no outs, but he found a way to get three straight outs to end the threat. His next inning would be smooth as butter, going three up, three down in the sixth. Smith and Korson would slow the Explorer offense by only letting up one run to keep Sioux City at five runs. 

Kansas City continues to hold the second-place spot for another day, despite the loss. KC is now four games behind Cleburne in the playoff race, and the Explorers continue to nip at the heels of the T-Bones going into tomorrow’s rubber match. 

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 www.tbonesbaseball.com. and the T-Bones Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.

Box Score

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