Llano's 9th inning homer lifts X's over Dogs
Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
LINCOLN -- Beating Lincoln has been a riot for the Sioux City Explorers, especially at Haymarket Park, where the Saltdogs normally draw crowds of upwards of 3,000.
Monday night, 3,337 showed up at the Haymarket to watch the Explorers win their third straight game here, 7-6.
Rallying from a 6-2 deficit after the starter, Brad Guy, retired the first 13 Lincoln batters of the game, a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning by Alex Llanos lifted Sioux City to victory.
The Llanos hit was his fifth straight in the game as the veteran second baseman raised his batting average from .325 to .team-leading 345.
"There's just a good feeling on this ballclub right now,'' said Sioux City Manager Ed Nottle. "Alex Llanos going 5-for-5 was phenomenal and to come back from a four-run deficit against a team full of .300 hitters was a tribute to the way our guys never give up.''
Nottle's team, now 20-35 overall, won a fourth straight game for the first time this season.
The X's, 15-33 in the first half, opened action in the second half of the campaign with a three-game sweep at St. Joseph, Mo.
The American Association triumph improved Sioux City's second half record in the North Division to 5-2. The Dogs, winners of the North first-half title with a 34-13 record, slipped to 3-4 in the second half.
Back on June 22-23 in Lincoln, the Explorers licked the Saltdogs 13-5 and 2-1 and in game July 4 at Lewis and Clark Park, rallied from an 8-3 deficit to win 9-8.
Newcomer Brett Reid, relieving Guy with one out in the eighth, earned the pitching win, his first in an X's uniform.
Guy, still 1-6, was brilliant through four innings, but after retiring Brett Cooley to open the fifth, former Explorer Josh Patton broke up his no-hitter with a double.
Guy got Seth Pietsch out, but consecutive singles by Jay Yaconetti, Aaron Mendoza, Corey Harrington, Tony Garcia and Pichet Balet produced four runs with Garcia getting two RBIs on his single.
Guy gave up 10 hits, six of them in the fifth. Matt Varner, the fourth Lincoln pitcher, was saddled with the loss.
The X's broke through on Lincoln starter Jarrett Gardner in the fifth when Billy Cox doubled and scored on a wild pitch and Jorge Moreno raced home on a Llanos single.
The Saltdogs increased their lead to 6-2 in the sixth when Cooley doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly and Pietsch lined a solo home run off Guy. Pietsch, the second-leading hitter in the league, drilled his sixth homer.
He came into the game with a .380 batting average, one point behind leader Brent Krause of St. Paul, and his two hits inched his average to .382.
The never-say-die X's drew to within a run at 6-5 on three unearned tallies in the eighth.
After two were out, Llanos and Brandon Jones singled, Pete Pirman reached on an error by shortstop Tony Garcia and Nick McCoola, batting for designated hitter Shea Harris, sliced a two-run single.
For the second straight game, Ramon Navarro started at shortstop for the X's with all-star selection McCoola not appearing until his pinch-hitting role.
Navarro, hitting just .148 coming into the game, delivered in the eighth with a single that scored Pirman with the third run of the inning.
In the ninth, the Saltdogs had runners at second and third with one out, but Reid got .322 hitter Bryan Warner to ground out and he fanned Cooley, who came into the game with a .308 average, to end the game.
The one-run triumph gave Sioux City a 6-13 record in one-run games this season and the X's are now 4-6 with Lincoln.
In the second game of the series tonight, Brian Buchanan (1-0, 2.57 ERA) will start for the X's, facing John Kaminski (0-0, 3.52 ERA).
Monday night, 3,337 showed up at the Haymarket to watch the Explorers win their third straight game here, 7-6.
Rallying from a 6-2 deficit after the starter, Brad Guy, retired the first 13 Lincoln batters of the game, a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning by Alex Llanos lifted Sioux City to victory.
The Llanos hit was his fifth straight in the game as the veteran second baseman raised his batting average from .325 to .team-leading 345.
"There's just a good feeling on this ballclub right now,'' said Sioux City Manager Ed Nottle. "Alex Llanos going 5-for-5 was phenomenal and to come back from a four-run deficit against a team full of .300 hitters was a tribute to the way our guys never give up.''
Nottle's team, now 20-35 overall, won a fourth straight game for the first time this season.
The X's, 15-33 in the first half, opened action in the second half of the campaign with a three-game sweep at St. Joseph, Mo.
The American Association triumph improved Sioux City's second half record in the North Division to 5-2. The Dogs, winners of the North first-half title with a 34-13 record, slipped to 3-4 in the second half.
Back on June 22-23 in Lincoln, the Explorers licked the Saltdogs 13-5 and 2-1 and in game July 4 at Lewis and Clark Park, rallied from an 8-3 deficit to win 9-8.
Newcomer Brett Reid, relieving Guy with one out in the eighth, earned the pitching win, his first in an X's uniform.
Guy, still 1-6, was brilliant through four innings, but after retiring Brett Cooley to open the fifth, former Explorer Josh Patton broke up his no-hitter with a double.
Guy got Seth Pietsch out, but consecutive singles by Jay Yaconetti, Aaron Mendoza, Corey Harrington, Tony Garcia and Pichet Balet produced four runs with Garcia getting two RBIs on his single.
Guy gave up 10 hits, six of them in the fifth. Matt Varner, the fourth Lincoln pitcher, was saddled with the loss.
The X's broke through on Lincoln starter Jarrett Gardner in the fifth when Billy Cox doubled and scored on a wild pitch and Jorge Moreno raced home on a Llanos single.
The Saltdogs increased their lead to 6-2 in the sixth when Cooley doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly and Pietsch lined a solo home run off Guy. Pietsch, the second-leading hitter in the league, drilled his sixth homer.
He came into the game with a .380 batting average, one point behind leader Brent Krause of St. Paul, and his two hits inched his average to .382.
The never-say-die X's drew to within a run at 6-5 on three unearned tallies in the eighth.
After two were out, Llanos and Brandon Jones singled, Pete Pirman reached on an error by shortstop Tony Garcia and Nick McCoola, batting for designated hitter Shea Harris, sliced a two-run single.
For the second straight game, Ramon Navarro started at shortstop for the X's with all-star selection McCoola not appearing until his pinch-hitting role.
Navarro, hitting just .148 coming into the game, delivered in the eighth with a single that scored Pirman with the third run of the inning.
In the ninth, the Saltdogs had runners at second and third with one out, but Reid got .322 hitter Bryan Warner to ground out and he fanned Cooley, who came into the game with a .308 average, to end the game.
The one-run triumph gave Sioux City a 6-13 record in one-run games this season and the X's are now 4-6 with Lincoln.
In the second game of the series tonight, Brian Buchanan (1-0, 2.57 ERA) will start for the X's, facing John Kaminski (0-0, 3.52 ERA).
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