Diablos snap X's winning streak
By Barry Poe, Journal sports writer | Posted: Monday, August 04, 2008
The bad news on Sunday was the fact that the El Paso Diablos handled the Sioux City Explorers 11-5 at Lewis and Clark Park, snapping the X's five-game winning streak.
The good news, however, is that the X's are still in first place in the American Association North Division.
Second-place Lincoln was idle on Sunday, so the Saltdogs remain a half-game behind Sioux City in the second-half standings. The loss left the X's with a 17-12 record in the second half while Lincoln is 16-12.
El Paso, now 16-13 after snapping a five-game losing streak, jumped on Sioux City starter Tim Layden, who gave up seven runs and 11 hits in five innings. The Diablos finished with 17 base hits off four different X's pitchers, including one off backup infielder Sam Walker, who pitched the ninth inning.
"Our pitching wasn't good today, everything was down the middle," said Explorers manager Les Lancaster. "That's what's going to happen when you throw pitches down the middle.
"The guys played great on the road trip. I was kind of worried about a letdown coming back from Lincoln and that definitely showed tonight. There was no spark there at all. The only time the guys got excited is when we put Sam in to pitch and if something like that is what it takes to get you excited, we'll have a rough 20 games ahead of us."
The Explorers are starting a stretch of 13 of their last 20 games against foes from the South Division. Sioux City dropped two of three to the Shreveport Sports earlier this season in the only games, prior to Sunday, against a team from the South Division.
El Paso's Jorge Alvarez was 4-for-6 at the plate, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Alvarez, Kory Drew and Alex Derhak each homered, their blows leading off the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Derek Schermerhorn had an RBI triple in the third inning for the X's while Chad Gabriel doubled home a run in the sixth and Walter Young led off the eighth with a solo home run. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Young has slugged three homers and driven in 17 runs in seven games as an Explorer.
The Diablos scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning after X's rightfielder Jason Tuttle appeared to lose a ball in the sun before it glanced off his glove. The Explorers avoided further damage when Marcel Longmire was thrown out at the plate, but El Paso continued its assault on Layden, scoring at least a run in each of the first five innings.
Ty Marotz worked two scoreless frames, but the Diablos scored four in the eighth off Tony O'Donnell. Walker, who took to the mound for the first time since he was a freshman in high school, allowed only a ground ball single up the middle by Alvarez.
"It was pretty interesting, that's for sure," said Walker, who retired two batters on fly balls and another on a ground out. "He (Lancaster) asked me if I could do it and I said fine, so I went down the pen and warmed up and I was on the mound in the ninth."
"Sam has done everything he can for us to help us out as much as possible," said Lancaster. "He saved an arm for us, which helped us out."
Trailing 5-0, the Explorers finally got on the board in the third when Nick McCoola walked and raced home on Schermerhorn's triple to the gap in right-center. Schermerhorn scored on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Jones.
Gabriel's team-leading 17th double of the season plated Juan Camacho, who lined a one-out single in the sixth. Gabriel advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch.
Young's home run sailed over the centerfield fence and the former major leaguer added a single. Tuttle also collected two hits and the X's finished with nine.
Sioux City was coming off an excellent road trip, winning twice in Wichita and three times in Lincoln. When the Explorers left town, they were trailing the Saltdogs by 2.5 games.
The X's continue their 11-game homestand tonight, facing El Paso at 7:05 p.m. Lancaster is undecided on who will pitch while the Diablos will send Jusef Frias (5-5, 4.14 ERA) to the hill.
The good news, however, is that the X's are still in first place in the American Association North Division.
Second-place Lincoln was idle on Sunday, so the Saltdogs remain a half-game behind Sioux City in the second-half standings. The loss left the X's with a 17-12 record in the second half while Lincoln is 16-12.
El Paso, now 16-13 after snapping a five-game losing streak, jumped on Sioux City starter Tim Layden, who gave up seven runs and 11 hits in five innings. The Diablos finished with 17 base hits off four different X's pitchers, including one off backup infielder Sam Walker, who pitched the ninth inning.
"Our pitching wasn't good today, everything was down the middle," said Explorers manager Les Lancaster. "That's what's going to happen when you throw pitches down the middle.
"The guys played great on the road trip. I was kind of worried about a letdown coming back from Lincoln and that definitely showed tonight. There was no spark there at all. The only time the guys got excited is when we put Sam in to pitch and if something like that is what it takes to get you excited, we'll have a rough 20 games ahead of us."
The Explorers are starting a stretch of 13 of their last 20 games against foes from the South Division. Sioux City dropped two of three to the Shreveport Sports earlier this season in the only games, prior to Sunday, against a team from the South Division.
El Paso's Jorge Alvarez was 4-for-6 at the plate, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Alvarez, Kory Drew and Alex Derhak each homered, their blows leading off the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Derek Schermerhorn had an RBI triple in the third inning for the X's while Chad Gabriel doubled home a run in the sixth and Walter Young led off the eighth with a solo home run. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Young has slugged three homers and driven in 17 runs in seven games as an Explorer.
The Diablos scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning after X's rightfielder Jason Tuttle appeared to lose a ball in the sun before it glanced off his glove. The Explorers avoided further damage when Marcel Longmire was thrown out at the plate, but El Paso continued its assault on Layden, scoring at least a run in each of the first five innings.
Ty Marotz worked two scoreless frames, but the Diablos scored four in the eighth off Tony O'Donnell. Walker, who took to the mound for the first time since he was a freshman in high school, allowed only a ground ball single up the middle by Alvarez.
"It was pretty interesting, that's for sure," said Walker, who retired two batters on fly balls and another on a ground out. "He (Lancaster) asked me if I could do it and I said fine, so I went down the pen and warmed up and I was on the mound in the ninth."
"Sam has done everything he can for us to help us out as much as possible," said Lancaster. "He saved an arm for us, which helped us out."
Trailing 5-0, the Explorers finally got on the board in the third when Nick McCoola walked and raced home on Schermerhorn's triple to the gap in right-center. Schermerhorn scored on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Jones.
Gabriel's team-leading 17th double of the season plated Juan Camacho, who lined a one-out single in the sixth. Gabriel advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch.
Young's home run sailed over the centerfield fence and the former major leaguer added a single. Tuttle also collected two hits and the X's finished with nine.
Sioux City was coming off an excellent road trip, winning twice in Wichita and three times in Lincoln. When the Explorers left town, they were trailing the Saltdogs by 2.5 games.
The X's continue their 11-game homestand tonight, facing El Paso at 7:05 p.m. Lancaster is undecided on who will pitch while the Diablos will send Jusef Frias (5-5, 4.14 ERA) to the hill.
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
