14-6 romp puts X's one game back
Posted: Saturday, August 11, 2007
One game away. That's how far the Sioux City Explorers are from first place in the North Division of the American Association after clobbering Sioux Falls 14-6 Friday night in front of a crowd of 1,886 at Lewis and Clark Park.
Pete Pirman reached base in all six of his at-bats and Robert Wooley pitched seven strong innings as the X's improved their second-half record to 20-11. Coupled with a 5-3 Fort Worth win at first-place St. Paul, Sioux City is now just one game back of the Saints.
Resurgent Sioux City was just 15-33 in the first-half of the season.
The X's, who rapped 14 hits, took care of business early.
Jason Tuttle opened the game with a double and scored immediately on Pirman's triple off losing pitcher Jeff Landing, who had beaten Sioux City twice this season.
Wooley, now 2-1 in just six appearances, pitched far better than the 8.31 earned average he owned coming into the contest.
He allowed eight hits, four runs and struck out seven.
Pirman tripled, singled twice, walked twice and reached on a fielders choice that scored a run.
Power was produced by Julian Benavidez, who slugged a two-run homer in the third inning. Benavidez, plagued by injuries most of the season, tagged his sixth homer and picked up his 35th RBI in 59 games.
The Canaries disdained "small ball'' as they have all season, in falling to 15-19 in the second half. Sioux Falls, the runaway leader in Association home runs, got round-trippers from Casey Gordon, Abner Arroyo and Orlando Miller, to run its team total to 77, 24 more than runner-up Lincoln.
It was Gordon's fielding error in the second that opened the gates for a four-run Sioux City uprising, highlighted by RBIs from Tuttle, Pirman, Jake Daubert and Jorge Moreno.
Gordon made up for his second-inning miscue by muscling a Wooley pitch out of the yard in the third for his second home run of the season and his first in four games with the Canaries since being acquired in a trade with St. Joseph.
He also tripled and scored in the fifth.
Sioux Falls got its second run when Arroyo led off the fourth, taking Wooley deep for his sixth home run of the season.
The Canaries got a second run in the fourth when former major leaguer Orlando Miller reached on an Alex Llanos error at second, went to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on another Wooley wild pitch.
The X's piled it on in the sixth with three insurance runs, extending the lead to 13-4.
A walk to Paul Weichard and a single by Brandon Jones set the tables for a two-run double by Llanos. Llanos scored three batters later on Tuttle's fielders choice ground out.
Former major leaguer Pat Mahomes (9-3, 2.97 ERA) will start on the hill tonight for the Canaries. Mahomes went the distance in beating the X's 10-1 in Sioux Falls on July 31.
Nick Cebula, signed earlier this week, will make his first start for the Explorers.
Moreno capped the evening for the X's with an RBI double that plated Tuttle in the eighth.
X's and OH's: Sioux City's Pirman demonstrated not only his bat, but his strong right arm and legs in the game. In the fourth, with two out, he gunned down Damon Lessler, who was trying to advance from first to third on a Cameron Goughlan single. He also stole a base and scored three times....
El Paso's Korey Drew helped keep the X's fast on St. Paul's heels in the North with a home run, his fifth, that spurring the Diablos to a 6-1 win Thursday before a crowd of 6,611 at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. By Comparison, only 501 showed up in St. Joseph Thursday to watch the Blacksnakes beat the Canaries, 8-4....
Gordon, who played shortstop at St. Joe, committed his 19th error in the second inning and his first with Sioux Falls. He's filling the void left by hard-hitting Trevor Lawhorn, who has been signed by the Washington Nationals organization and assigned to Class A Hagerstown, Md., in the South Atlantic League. Lawhorn had eight homers in 30 games with Sioux Falls.
Pete Pirman reached base in all six of his at-bats and Robert Wooley pitched seven strong innings as the X's improved their second-half record to 20-11. Coupled with a 5-3 Fort Worth win at first-place St. Paul, Sioux City is now just one game back of the Saints.
Resurgent Sioux City was just 15-33 in the first-half of the season.
The X's, who rapped 14 hits, took care of business early.
Jason Tuttle opened the game with a double and scored immediately on Pirman's triple off losing pitcher Jeff Landing, who had beaten Sioux City twice this season.
Wooley, now 2-1 in just six appearances, pitched far better than the 8.31 earned average he owned coming into the contest.
He allowed eight hits, four runs and struck out seven.
Pirman tripled, singled twice, walked twice and reached on a fielders choice that scored a run.
Power was produced by Julian Benavidez, who slugged a two-run homer in the third inning. Benavidez, plagued by injuries most of the season, tagged his sixth homer and picked up his 35th RBI in 59 games.
The Canaries disdained "small ball'' as they have all season, in falling to 15-19 in the second half. Sioux Falls, the runaway leader in Association home runs, got round-trippers from Casey Gordon, Abner Arroyo and Orlando Miller, to run its team total to 77, 24 more than runner-up Lincoln.
It was Gordon's fielding error in the second that opened the gates for a four-run Sioux City uprising, highlighted by RBIs from Tuttle, Pirman, Jake Daubert and Jorge Moreno.
Gordon made up for his second-inning miscue by muscling a Wooley pitch out of the yard in the third for his second home run of the season and his first in four games with the Canaries since being acquired in a trade with St. Joseph.
He also tripled and scored in the fifth.
Sioux Falls got its second run when Arroyo led off the fourth, taking Wooley deep for his sixth home run of the season.
The Canaries got a second run in the fourth when former major leaguer Orlando Miller reached on an Alex Llanos error at second, went to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on another Wooley wild pitch.
The X's piled it on in the sixth with three insurance runs, extending the lead to 13-4.
A walk to Paul Weichard and a single by Brandon Jones set the tables for a two-run double by Llanos. Llanos scored three batters later on Tuttle's fielders choice ground out.
Former major leaguer Pat Mahomes (9-3, 2.97 ERA) will start on the hill tonight for the Canaries. Mahomes went the distance in beating the X's 10-1 in Sioux Falls on July 31.
Nick Cebula, signed earlier this week, will make his first start for the Explorers.
Moreno capped the evening for the X's with an RBI double that plated Tuttle in the eighth.
X's and OH's: Sioux City's Pirman demonstrated not only his bat, but his strong right arm and legs in the game. In the fourth, with two out, he gunned down Damon Lessler, who was trying to advance from first to third on a Cameron Goughlan single. He also stole a base and scored three times....
El Paso's Korey Drew helped keep the X's fast on St. Paul's heels in the North with a home run, his fifth, that spurring the Diablos to a 6-1 win Thursday before a crowd of 6,611 at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. By Comparison, only 501 showed up in St. Joseph Thursday to watch the Blacksnakes beat the Canaries, 8-4....
Gordon, who played shortstop at St. Joe, committed his 19th error in the second inning and his first with Sioux Falls. He's filling the void left by hard-hitting Trevor Lawhorn, who has been signed by the Washington Nationals organization and assigned to Class A Hagerstown, Md., in the South Atlantic League. Lawhorn had eight homers in 30 games with Sioux Falls.
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