Rain ends X's chance for comeback
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Thursday, June 05, 2008
Sioux City Explorers' pitcher Dusty Bergman waits for the sign in game action against the Shreveport Sports Tuesday evening, June 4, 2008, at Lewis and Clark Stadium. (Sioux City Journal, Jerry Mennenga)
Dodging raindrops was the order of the evening for the Sioux City Explorers and Shreveport Sports Wednesday at Lewis and Clark Park.
Umpires halted play in the top of the seventh inning with one out at approximately 8:50 p.m. with the visiting Sports in front 1-0, courtesy of a run in the top of the first inning.
The game was delayed for 56 minutes before finally being declared complete.
The game began with light rain falling and it got progressively worse as the contest went on. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled in the background before the umps finally called for the tarp in the top of the seventh.
X's starting pitcher Dusty Bergman deserved a better fate. Bergman spaced seven hits, but four of those were of the infield variety. He struck out seven and walked four.
Veteran lefthander Bergman, however, was a hard-luck loser, slipping to 0-6 for the season.
"It's a little embarrassing to get shut out by that pitcher," said Sioux City manager Les Lancaster, whose club suffered its fifth shutout of the season and wasted a golden opportunity to tie the game in the fifth. "We had first and third and no outs and couldn't get a run in. That's not acceptable.
"The guy's pitching in a pattern and we can't make adjustments to it and we go up there and chase everything he throws."
Shreveport's Justin Phillips, a rookie lefthander, allowed five hits while striking out five and walking one.
Shreveport got the game's only run with a little help from the Explorers, who committed two errors in the opening frame.
One of the miscues, a throwing error by shortstop Sam Walker, allowed Ron Fenwick to cross the plate. Fenwick, the leading hitter in the American Association with a .412 average, sliced a two-out opposite-field double down the left field line, then when Chad Gambill hit a slow roller, Walker uncorked a wild throw to first and Fenwick came all the way around from second to score.
The X's Chris Grossman lined a leadoff single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth and Juan Camacho followed with a hard base hit to left, sending Grossman to third.
Phillips, though, retired Anton French on a pop out to first, struck out Chad Gabriel and got Alex Llanos to bounce back to the pitcher.
Camacho had two of Sioux City's five hits while French had his first in an Explorers uniform.
"We had our opportunity to at least tie the game and continue it tomorrow, but we just couldn't do it and then the rains came," said Lancaster. "We'll see what happens tomorrow."
Nick Singleton (1-2, 2.62 ERA), who went eight innings and allowed five hits in a 6-0 win over Wichita last Saturday, will get the start in tonight's rubber game of the three-game set. Daniel Welch (1-1) had a complete game in his last outing on Friday in an 11-2 Shreveport victory at St. Paul.
With Wednesday's win, the Sports moved to 8-16 overall while Sioux City is 9-17.
X'S AND OHS: Not only did the Explorers equal their season high with eight runs in Tuesday's 8-3 victory over the Sports, the five runs their scored in the eighth inning were the most they've tallied in a single frame this season....
Sioux City played its 38th game against a team from the Southern Division on Wednesday. The X's are 18-19 all-time against members of the Southern Division. The X's won two of three games at Shreveport's Fair Grounds Field last season....
The Explorers have a team ERA of 4.23, which ranks sixth in the American Association. That, however, is a big improvement from the last two seasons, when they finished last in the league in that department....
The El Paso Diablos signed former X's pitcher Isaac Daniels on Wednesday, which means the only team in the American Association without a former Explorer player or manager in uniform is the Lincoln Saltdogs. The Saltdogs do, however, have former Explorers general manager Tim Utrup in their front office....
Joel Kirsten of the Fort Worth Cats allowed just one hit in a 10-0 rout of Pensacola on Tuesday. Pelicans' third baseman Cesar Aranguren broke up Kirsten's no-hit bid in the bottom of the eighth with an infield single. Kirsten went the distance and struck out six, improving his record to 3-1.
Umpires halted play in the top of the seventh inning with one out at approximately 8:50 p.m. with the visiting Sports in front 1-0, courtesy of a run in the top of the first inning.
The game was delayed for 56 minutes before finally being declared complete.
The game began with light rain falling and it got progressively worse as the contest went on. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled in the background before the umps finally called for the tarp in the top of the seventh.
X's starting pitcher Dusty Bergman deserved a better fate. Bergman spaced seven hits, but four of those were of the infield variety. He struck out seven and walked four.
Veteran lefthander Bergman, however, was a hard-luck loser, slipping to 0-6 for the season.
"It's a little embarrassing to get shut out by that pitcher," said Sioux City manager Les Lancaster, whose club suffered its fifth shutout of the season and wasted a golden opportunity to tie the game in the fifth. "We had first and third and no outs and couldn't get a run in. That's not acceptable.
"The guy's pitching in a pattern and we can't make adjustments to it and we go up there and chase everything he throws."
Shreveport's Justin Phillips, a rookie lefthander, allowed five hits while striking out five and walking one.
Shreveport got the game's only run with a little help from the Explorers, who committed two errors in the opening frame.
One of the miscues, a throwing error by shortstop Sam Walker, allowed Ron Fenwick to cross the plate. Fenwick, the leading hitter in the American Association with a .412 average, sliced a two-out opposite-field double down the left field line, then when Chad Gambill hit a slow roller, Walker uncorked a wild throw to first and Fenwick came all the way around from second to score.
The X's Chris Grossman lined a leadoff single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth and Juan Camacho followed with a hard base hit to left, sending Grossman to third.
Phillips, though, retired Anton French on a pop out to first, struck out Chad Gabriel and got Alex Llanos to bounce back to the pitcher.
Camacho had two of Sioux City's five hits while French had his first in an Explorers uniform.
"We had our opportunity to at least tie the game and continue it tomorrow, but we just couldn't do it and then the rains came," said Lancaster. "We'll see what happens tomorrow."
Nick Singleton (1-2, 2.62 ERA), who went eight innings and allowed five hits in a 6-0 win over Wichita last Saturday, will get the start in tonight's rubber game of the three-game set. Daniel Welch (1-1) had a complete game in his last outing on Friday in an 11-2 Shreveport victory at St. Paul.
With Wednesday's win, the Sports moved to 8-16 overall while Sioux City is 9-17.
X'S AND OHS: Not only did the Explorers equal their season high with eight runs in Tuesday's 8-3 victory over the Sports, the five runs their scored in the eighth inning were the most they've tallied in a single frame this season....
Sioux City played its 38th game against a team from the Southern Division on Wednesday. The X's are 18-19 all-time against members of the Southern Division. The X's won two of three games at Shreveport's Fair Grounds Field last season....
The Explorers have a team ERA of 4.23, which ranks sixth in the American Association. That, however, is a big improvement from the last two seasons, when they finished last in the league in that department....
The El Paso Diablos signed former X's pitcher Isaac Daniels on Wednesday, which means the only team in the American Association without a former Explorer player or manager in uniform is the Lincoln Saltdogs. The Saltdogs do, however, have former Explorers general manager Tim Utrup in their front office....
Joel Kirsten of the Fort Worth Cats allowed just one hit in a 10-0 rout of Pensacola on Tuesday. Pelicans' third baseman Cesar Aranguren broke up Kirsten's no-hit bid in the bottom of the eighth with an infield single. Kirsten went the distance and struck out six, improving his record to 3-1.
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