Explorers' backs against the wall
By Terry Hersom, Journal sports editor | Posted: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
SIOUX FALLS -- After a long and gutsy battle to win American Association baseball's second-half North Division title, the Sioux City Explorers' coveted playoff opportunity is rapidly slipping through their fingers.
One night after dropping a 2-1 cliffhanger in the best-of-five divisional series opener,
Sioux City's bats remained unproductive here Tuesday night as the Sioux Falls Canaries took a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 7-1 victory fueled by improbable hero Tim Hutting's five RBIs.
Backs to the wall, the X's will have a day off today before a Game 3 fight for survival Thursday night at Lewis and Clark Park (7:05 p.m. start).
"No doubt about it, we've got an uphill battle,'' said X's Manager Les Lancaster,whose team went 31-17 to win the second-half division flag after finishing last in the first half at 21-27. "That's the way our season's been, though. Why should it be any different?''
"By no stretch of the imagination do I feel this is a done deal,'' said Sioux Falls Manager Steve Shirley, skipper of the X's three seasons ago. "Going down there (to Sioux City) is no picnic. We've got a lot of work ahead of us.''
Well, maybe not "a lot.''
Although Sioux City could host all three remaining contests if the series went the full five games, that certainly wasn't looking very probable after a disillusioning Tuesday setback that saw Alexander Francisco blitzed for five runs and eight hits after a 12-1 season that set a club record for wins.
"We had to hit some good pitches because that's what Francisco makes,'' said Shirley. "We also had to hit the ones he didn't make and there aren't that many of those.''
Not only did the Explorers struggle once again to come up with the clutch hits, they also looked bad on the basepaths, getting picked off twice. Moreover, they were stung for the second night in a row by the closest thing the league's best-hitting team has to an easy out.
A night after his seventh-inning single resolved a 1-1 stalemate, Hutting, the Sioux Falls shortstop, delivered three hits that plated five of the winners' seven runs.
Not a bad night's work for a No. 9-hole guy averaging .232 for a team whose hefty .296 batting average led the league by 15 points.
"I was fortunate enough to come up in some big situations and be productive,'' said Hutting. "Right now, I have to put it all (the credit) on our pitchers (limiting the X's to single runs in the first two games).''
Spotting the X's a first-inning run, the Canaries surged in front to stay with a four-run third inning that started with consecutive singles by Patrick Reilly and Paul Smyth. Hutting followed that with a two-run double to left-center, lifting the hosts in front 2-1.
And, it might have stayed that way after Francisco retired the next two batters. However, catcher Chris Grossman was unable to block two low pitches from Francisco, both of which were charged as wild pitches, letting Hutting cross the plate.
Then, as the meltdown continued, two Francisco walks were followed by Josh Patton's RBI single for a 4-1 cushion.
Francisco made it to the sixth before he retired only one of the first four batters, surrendering a walk and two singles before the X's turned to Ty Marotz. Hutting's bouncer through a drawn-in infield made it a 5-1 cushion, which was more than enough for lefthander Ryan Ford.
Like Francisco, Ford was coming off a regular season in which he set a club record for wins, going 13-6 with help from a one-inning victory in relief in the Birds' regular season finale on Saturday. He was anything but dazzling in this performance, yet the southpaw needed just 12 pitches per frame over the first seven innings against the impatient Sioux City bats.
"We were swinging at the off-speed stuff,'' said Lancaster. "It was just like the other night (Game 1), not having an approach at what we were trying to do. We had all the opportunities in the world. We could have had a run or two here and there and they'd have added up.''
The Explorers mustered nine base hits, but they were anything but opportunistic. After getting the first two batters on base in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, they came away empty-handed. They also got two runners aboard and did nothing in the eighth.
The lone run came from the first batter of the night, leadoff man Dustin Jones, beating out an infield single, moving to second on a bunt by Nick McCoola, taking third on a passed ball and scoring on a groundout by Alex Llanos.
If the game was not already out of reach, the Canaries took care of that in the eighth, when Hutting had the last of three singles in the inning off Marotz, add two more runs to his season-high RBI total -- two more than he'd managed in three games for the Birds.
X's and OH's
Shortstop Tim Hutting's two-run double in the third inning is the only extra-base hit in the series for the Canaries, who have rattled out 17 singles.
"I don't care how we score 'em,'' said Sioux Falls Manager Steve Shirley, whose team hit a league-leading 96 home runs during the regular season. "I just care that we score 'em.''
Home runs weren't much in the equation in this game with a strong breeze out of the south, wafting in over the right-field wall. Sioux City's Chris Grossman hit a deep drive that would normally have been out in right field, but it was hauled in well in front of the wall.
The Explorers, similar to Sioux Falls, have 13 singles among their 14 total hits, the exception being Walter Young's solo homer for Sioux City's only run in Game 1.....
After the Canaries rocked Alexander Francisco for four runs in the third inning, taking a 4-1 lead, the X's had a peculiar and frustrating top of the fourth. Alex Llanos led off with a base hit and Walter Young drew a five-pitch walk. Then, however, Chris Grossman was asked to bunt, which simply got the 6-5, 290-pound Young forced at second base. And, with runners on the corners and one out, the rally virtually ended when Grossman was picked off first, pleading that Sioux Falls lefthander Ryan Ford had balked....
The pressure for Sioux City is now on 6-foot 8-inch rookie righthander Paige Dumont, who gets the starting nod for Game 3 on Thursday. Dumont, a former basketball star at NCAA Division II Sonoma State in California, fashioned a 7-4 record with a 3.34 ERA, becoming a quality starter after beginning the season in the bullpen.
The Canaries, who had four double-digit winners, a first for any short-season independent professional team, will have Travis Kane (11-6, 3.45) on the hill, gunning for a series sweep.
Game 4, if necessary, would be Friday night at 7:05 and probable pitchers haven't been mentioned. And Game 5, again if necessary, would be Saturday, also at 7:05....
It's beginning to look like the winner of this series will face the first-year South Division franchise in suburban Dallas, Grand Prairie, which has taken a 2-0 lead on Fort Worth's two-time defending league champs, winning 6-5 and 4-2. And, Fort Worth won both halves in the South, which awarded its second spot to Grand Prairie as a wild card (second best overall record).
The South winner hosts the first two games next Monday and Tuesday. Like this week, there's a day off on Wednesday, then the North finalist will host however many games are needed to complete the best-of-five....
Shirley, who managed the Explorers in 2005, said he wasn't taking anything for granted with his team jumping in front 2-0 in the best-of-five series. "Unfortunately, I was with Winnipeg in 2006 (Northern League playoffs) and we were up 2-0 on Fargo and didn't get it done,'' said Shirley, who was Winnipeg's pitching coach two years ago, then took the Canaries helm last year....
--Terry Hersom
One night after dropping a 2-1 cliffhanger in the best-of-five divisional series opener,
Sioux City's bats remained unproductive here Tuesday night as the Sioux Falls Canaries took a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 7-1 victory fueled by improbable hero Tim Hutting's five RBIs.
Backs to the wall, the X's will have a day off today before a Game 3 fight for survival Thursday night at Lewis and Clark Park (7:05 p.m. start).
"No doubt about it, we've got an uphill battle,'' said X's Manager Les Lancaster,whose team went 31-17 to win the second-half division flag after finishing last in the first half at 21-27. "That's the way our season's been, though. Why should it be any different?''
"By no stretch of the imagination do I feel this is a done deal,'' said Sioux Falls Manager Steve Shirley, skipper of the X's three seasons ago. "Going down there (to Sioux City) is no picnic. We've got a lot of work ahead of us.''
Well, maybe not "a lot.''
Although Sioux City could host all three remaining contests if the series went the full five games, that certainly wasn't looking very probable after a disillusioning Tuesday setback that saw Alexander Francisco blitzed for five runs and eight hits after a 12-1 season that set a club record for wins.
"We had to hit some good pitches because that's what Francisco makes,'' said Shirley. "We also had to hit the ones he didn't make and there aren't that many of those.''
Not only did the Explorers struggle once again to come up with the clutch hits, they also looked bad on the basepaths, getting picked off twice. Moreover, they were stung for the second night in a row by the closest thing the league's best-hitting team has to an easy out.
A night after his seventh-inning single resolved a 1-1 stalemate, Hutting, the Sioux Falls shortstop, delivered three hits that plated five of the winners' seven runs.
Not a bad night's work for a No. 9-hole guy averaging .232 for a team whose hefty .296 batting average led the league by 15 points.
"I was fortunate enough to come up in some big situations and be productive,'' said Hutting. "Right now, I have to put it all (the credit) on our pitchers (limiting the X's to single runs in the first two games).''
Spotting the X's a first-inning run, the Canaries surged in front to stay with a four-run third inning that started with consecutive singles by Patrick Reilly and Paul Smyth. Hutting followed that with a two-run double to left-center, lifting the hosts in front 2-1.
And, it might have stayed that way after Francisco retired the next two batters. However, catcher Chris Grossman was unable to block two low pitches from Francisco, both of which were charged as wild pitches, letting Hutting cross the plate.
Then, as the meltdown continued, two Francisco walks were followed by Josh Patton's RBI single for a 4-1 cushion.
Francisco made it to the sixth before he retired only one of the first four batters, surrendering a walk and two singles before the X's turned to Ty Marotz. Hutting's bouncer through a drawn-in infield made it a 5-1 cushion, which was more than enough for lefthander Ryan Ford.
Like Francisco, Ford was coming off a regular season in which he set a club record for wins, going 13-6 with help from a one-inning victory in relief in the Birds' regular season finale on Saturday. He was anything but dazzling in this performance, yet the southpaw needed just 12 pitches per frame over the first seven innings against the impatient Sioux City bats.
"We were swinging at the off-speed stuff,'' said Lancaster. "It was just like the other night (Game 1), not having an approach at what we were trying to do. We had all the opportunities in the world. We could have had a run or two here and there and they'd have added up.''
The Explorers mustered nine base hits, but they were anything but opportunistic. After getting the first two batters on base in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, they came away empty-handed. They also got two runners aboard and did nothing in the eighth.
The lone run came from the first batter of the night, leadoff man Dustin Jones, beating out an infield single, moving to second on a bunt by Nick McCoola, taking third on a passed ball and scoring on a groundout by Alex Llanos.
If the game was not already out of reach, the Canaries took care of that in the eighth, when Hutting had the last of three singles in the inning off Marotz, add two more runs to his season-high RBI total -- two more than he'd managed in three games for the Birds.
X's and OH's
Shortstop Tim Hutting's two-run double in the third inning is the only extra-base hit in the series for the Canaries, who have rattled out 17 singles.
"I don't care how we score 'em,'' said Sioux Falls Manager Steve Shirley, whose team hit a league-leading 96 home runs during the regular season. "I just care that we score 'em.''
Home runs weren't much in the equation in this game with a strong breeze out of the south, wafting in over the right-field wall. Sioux City's Chris Grossman hit a deep drive that would normally have been out in right field, but it was hauled in well in front of the wall.
The Explorers, similar to Sioux Falls, have 13 singles among their 14 total hits, the exception being Walter Young's solo homer for Sioux City's only run in Game 1.....
After the Canaries rocked Alexander Francisco for four runs in the third inning, taking a 4-1 lead, the X's had a peculiar and frustrating top of the fourth. Alex Llanos led off with a base hit and Walter Young drew a five-pitch walk. Then, however, Chris Grossman was asked to bunt, which simply got the 6-5, 290-pound Young forced at second base. And, with runners on the corners and one out, the rally virtually ended when Grossman was picked off first, pleading that Sioux Falls lefthander Ryan Ford had balked....
The pressure for Sioux City is now on 6-foot 8-inch rookie righthander Paige Dumont, who gets the starting nod for Game 3 on Thursday. Dumont, a former basketball star at NCAA Division II Sonoma State in California, fashioned a 7-4 record with a 3.34 ERA, becoming a quality starter after beginning the season in the bullpen.
The Canaries, who had four double-digit winners, a first for any short-season independent professional team, will have Travis Kane (11-6, 3.45) on the hill, gunning for a series sweep.
Game 4, if necessary, would be Friday night at 7:05 and probable pitchers haven't been mentioned. And Game 5, again if necessary, would be Saturday, also at 7:05....
It's beginning to look like the winner of this series will face the first-year South Division franchise in suburban Dallas, Grand Prairie, which has taken a 2-0 lead on Fort Worth's two-time defending league champs, winning 6-5 and 4-2. And, Fort Worth won both halves in the South, which awarded its second spot to Grand Prairie as a wild card (second best overall record).
The South winner hosts the first two games next Monday and Tuesday. Like this week, there's a day off on Wednesday, then the North finalist will host however many games are needed to complete the best-of-five....
Shirley, who managed the Explorers in 2005, said he wasn't taking anything for granted with his team jumping in front 2-0 in the best-of-five series. "Unfortunately, I was with Winnipeg in 2006 (Northern League playoffs) and we were up 2-0 on Fargo and didn't get it done,'' said Shirley, who was Winnipeg's pitching coach two years ago, then took the Canaries helm last year....
--Terry Hersom
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
