Explorers win after dropped fly ball, 8-7
By Steven Allspach, Journal sports writer | Posted: Monday, June 11, 2007
Baseball's version of the Alphonse and Gaston French comedy skit -- "After you, Alphonse. No, you first, my dear Gaston'' -- ended Sunday at Lewis and Clark Park with a grim collective grin of delight on the faces on the Sioux City Explorers.
A bizarre 8-7 Sioux City victory over the Coastal Bend Aviators ended on a dropped fly ball. The Explorers' Jason Tuttle scored with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning when Aviator centerfielder Phil Grau and rightfielder Juan Figueroa collided while circling under a routine fly ball off the bat of Jorge Moreno.
It was the old "I've got it. No, you take it'' comedy act and it resulted in an error charged to Figueroa, who dropped the ball for what would have been the third out.
For just the second time this season, Manager Ed Nottle's Explorers won a series. The X's, now 10-20 for the season, took two of three from the Aviators of Manager John Harris and also bested St. Paul in two of three meetings May 22-23-24.
Moreno, who earlier in the game had broken an 0-for-13 slump with a two-run double in the third inning that scored Tuttle and Nick McCoola, had a feeling a potential collision of the two outfielders would become more than a gag.
"It looked like the centerfielder would make an easy catch, but I kept seeing the other guy running closer and closer and all of the sudden they run into each other,'' said Moreno. "I probably have seen that happen before, but it's been a long time.
"The main thing is we won the game. We've just got to keep our heads up and keeping playing good baseball.
"We've had some pretty bad luck in some games we've lost that we should have won, so I think we deserved something like this. It's gone the other way too many times.'' The veteran is hitting just .160 in his last 25 at-bats and now .304 for the season.
In the deciding ninth, Tuttle reached on an error by second baseman Brian Fryer, then went to second on McCoola's sacrifice bunt.
Coastal Bend, now 12-17, forged a 3-0 lead after three innings, getting two in the third on Grant Richardson's single.
The X's bounced back in the bottom of the third to tie the contest at 3-3 on Moreno's double and Jake Daubert's bloop single that plated Moreno.
The Aviators regained the lead with two runs in the fourth. The X's got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, but two more Coastal Bend runs in the eighth put the Texans back on top, 7-6.
Coastal Bend third baseman J.D. Foust tied an American Association single-game shared by several players with five hits, all singles, in five at-bats.
"I've actually been struggling at the plate and running the bases,'' said the lanky 6-foot-4 Foust. "I've got a bad ankle and a bad wrist.
"Even though this was the toughest kind of game to lose, I guess you can't complain too much when you're 5-for-5.''
Foust's five hits raised his batting average from .278 to .310.
Foust singled home the first Aviator run in the first inning. He spanked a single to plate one of the two Aviator runs in the fourth and also stole three bases, one more theft than he'd accumulated in 26 previous games.
Fryar singled in the other Coastal Bend run in the fourth and he laced a two-run double in the eighth off Rory James, the third of three Sioux City pitchers.
The 6-foot-9 James (1-2), now the X's closer, picked up his first win. The two runs were charged to rookie Joel Schmal, who faced four batters after relieving starter Brad Guy.
"If there was any way to do it, I'd give my win to Brad Guy,'' said James, who pitched 1.1 innings and gave up two hits. "Brad's deserved to win so many games. He's pitched brilliantly.''
Guy (0-4), who gave up 10 hits, wasn't as sharp as usual Sunday, but worked out of trouble several times. His mates took him off the hook in the eighth when they tied the count at 7-7.
Daubert drew a walk off Miquel Martinez, who had relieved Matt Wilkinson to start the frame. However, Harris yanked Martinez and brought in 6-9, 230-pound John Hunton.
Hunton, though, was charged with a throwing error on Brandon Jones' bunt. His soft toss skipped past first baseman Grant Richardson, allowing Daubert to score.
"It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it,'' said Nottle. "That last play, you could see it coming, but we deserved a little bit of good luck.
"Joel Schmal was probably scared to death out there in his first pro appearance.''
Schmal was signed last week out of Florida Atlantic University.
Meanwhile, in nine previous innings of work, Hunton had struck out 17 batters and had a 0.00 ERA.
X's and OH's: Sioux City's Nottle added his "lucky charm'' to the clubhouse for the matinee contest. Loyal Explorer fan Tom Graham's grandson, David, was called on to work as a batboy. "David was a batboy for one our games last season and we won that one, too,'' said Nottle....
Sioux City's Dustin Jones equaled an American Association record by four times and he also scored two runs....
Both Sioux City and Coastal Bend faced long bus rides after the game. The Explorers, who are idle today, left at midnight on a nearly 20-hour excursion to El Paso, Texas, to begin a three-game series Tuesday against the Diablos. Coastal Bend left after the game on a 21-hour trip by base back to Robstown, Texas (Corpus Christi suburb), where it will host a three-game series Pensacola, Fla., beginning Tuesday....
The Aviators were fairly flying on the basepaths when they had their chances Sunday, and were successful on all six of the steal attempts to tie an American Assocation single-game record. Foust and Lofton pulled off a double steal in the third, taking third and second, respectively, without drawing a throw from Sioux City catcher Mike Richardson.
A bizarre 8-7 Sioux City victory over the Coastal Bend Aviators ended on a dropped fly ball. The Explorers' Jason Tuttle scored with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning when Aviator centerfielder Phil Grau and rightfielder Juan Figueroa collided while circling under a routine fly ball off the bat of Jorge Moreno.
It was the old "I've got it. No, you take it'' comedy act and it resulted in an error charged to Figueroa, who dropped the ball for what would have been the third out.
For just the second time this season, Manager Ed Nottle's Explorers won a series. The X's, now 10-20 for the season, took two of three from the Aviators of Manager John Harris and also bested St. Paul in two of three meetings May 22-23-24.
Moreno, who earlier in the game had broken an 0-for-13 slump with a two-run double in the third inning that scored Tuttle and Nick McCoola, had a feeling a potential collision of the two outfielders would become more than a gag.
"It looked like the centerfielder would make an easy catch, but I kept seeing the other guy running closer and closer and all of the sudden they run into each other,'' said Moreno. "I probably have seen that happen before, but it's been a long time.
"The main thing is we won the game. We've just got to keep our heads up and keeping playing good baseball.
"We've had some pretty bad luck in some games we've lost that we should have won, so I think we deserved something like this. It's gone the other way too many times.'' The veteran is hitting just .160 in his last 25 at-bats and now .304 for the season.
In the deciding ninth, Tuttle reached on an error by second baseman Brian Fryer, then went to second on McCoola's sacrifice bunt.
Coastal Bend, now 12-17, forged a 3-0 lead after three innings, getting two in the third on Grant Richardson's single.
The X's bounced back in the bottom of the third to tie the contest at 3-3 on Moreno's double and Jake Daubert's bloop single that plated Moreno.
The Aviators regained the lead with two runs in the fourth. The X's got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, but two more Coastal Bend runs in the eighth put the Texans back on top, 7-6.
Coastal Bend third baseman J.D. Foust tied an American Association single-game shared by several players with five hits, all singles, in five at-bats.
"I've actually been struggling at the plate and running the bases,'' said the lanky 6-foot-4 Foust. "I've got a bad ankle and a bad wrist.
"Even though this was the toughest kind of game to lose, I guess you can't complain too much when you're 5-for-5.''
Foust's five hits raised his batting average from .278 to .310.
Foust singled home the first Aviator run in the first inning. He spanked a single to plate one of the two Aviator runs in the fourth and also stole three bases, one more theft than he'd accumulated in 26 previous games.
Fryar singled in the other Coastal Bend run in the fourth and he laced a two-run double in the eighth off Rory James, the third of three Sioux City pitchers.
The 6-foot-9 James (1-2), now the X's closer, picked up his first win. The two runs were charged to rookie Joel Schmal, who faced four batters after relieving starter Brad Guy.
"If there was any way to do it, I'd give my win to Brad Guy,'' said James, who pitched 1.1 innings and gave up two hits. "Brad's deserved to win so many games. He's pitched brilliantly.''
Guy (0-4), who gave up 10 hits, wasn't as sharp as usual Sunday, but worked out of trouble several times. His mates took him off the hook in the eighth when they tied the count at 7-7.
Daubert drew a walk off Miquel Martinez, who had relieved Matt Wilkinson to start the frame. However, Harris yanked Martinez and brought in 6-9, 230-pound John Hunton.
Hunton, though, was charged with a throwing error on Brandon Jones' bunt. His soft toss skipped past first baseman Grant Richardson, allowing Daubert to score.
"It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it,'' said Nottle. "That last play, you could see it coming, but we deserved a little bit of good luck.
"Joel Schmal was probably scared to death out there in his first pro appearance.''
Schmal was signed last week out of Florida Atlantic University.
Meanwhile, in nine previous innings of work, Hunton had struck out 17 batters and had a 0.00 ERA.
X's and OH's: Sioux City's Nottle added his "lucky charm'' to the clubhouse for the matinee contest. Loyal Explorer fan Tom Graham's grandson, David, was called on to work as a batboy. "David was a batboy for one our games last season and we won that one, too,'' said Nottle....
Sioux City's Dustin Jones equaled an American Association record by four times and he also scored two runs....
Both Sioux City and Coastal Bend faced long bus rides after the game. The Explorers, who are idle today, left at midnight on a nearly 20-hour excursion to El Paso, Texas, to begin a three-game series Tuesday against the Diablos. Coastal Bend left after the game on a 21-hour trip by base back to Robstown, Texas (Corpus Christi suburb), where it will host a three-game series Pensacola, Fla., beginning Tuesday....
The Aviators were fairly flying on the basepaths when they had their chances Sunday, and were successful on all six of the steal attempts to tie an American Assocation single-game record. Foust and Lofton pulled off a double steal in the third, taking third and second, respectively, without drawing a throw from Sioux City catcher Mike Richardson.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
