712.277.WINS (9467)

Sioux City, IA - Behind a complete game shut out by Jason Garcia and Nate Samson’s five hit game the Explorers beat the Texas Airhogs 14-0. 

Sioux City would get on the board in the third inning and all it took was two hits. Luis Durango would walk and steal second and then advance to third on a throwing error. Michael Lang was hit by a pitch before Nate Samson drove home Durango with a single. After a Jose Sermo walk loaded the bases Michael Lang would score on a pop up sacrifice fly to the short stop by Dean Green. Lang sprinted home, catching the Airhogs sleeping to put the X’s in front 2-0. They would add a third run as Samson scored on a Blake Schmit single which extended his hitting streak to 16 games. 

The Explorers would add two more runs in the fourth as Durango walked off the third time in the ball game, Samson singled and Sermo drove both of them home with a double to center field making it 5-0. 

Sioux City would then explode in the seventh inning in what became a nine run rally. Every batter in the lineup would reach base and would score in the inning. Jay Baum ended up being the first out of the inning but he was the one to start the rally with a base hit as the first nine men to the plate reached for Sioux City. Seven of them collected hits, Lang was hit by a pitch and Sermo walked. In the inning, Blake Schmit collected his second RBI of the game, Luis Durango reached base for the fourth time in the game, Nate Samson picked up his third RBI as well as Dean Green.

The nine runs are the second most in an inning for Sioux City this season. 

Nate Samson in the ball game for Sioux City went 5-6 and collected 3 RBI’s and scored 3 runs. It was Samson’s first five hit game of the season and his 43rd multi hit game of the year. Samson now on the season has 135 hits, which is only two shy of the X’s franchise record of 137, that Samson himself set back in 2016 during his American Association player of the year campaign. 

Sioux City has also now scored 10 or more runs in three straight games for the fourth time in franchise history and the first time since 2011. 

On the mound for the Explorers it was the former big leaguer Jason Garcia who was dominant for the Explorers. He pitched the first complete game shut out of the season for the X’s and the fourth overall complete game by a starter this season. 

Garcia (3-0) has now won all three of his starts for Sioux City as he went the full nine innings tonight and allowed only two hits in the process. He also walked only two and struck out seven in the ball game. No Airhogs even made it to second base in the game. He needed only 89 pitches to finish all nine innings. 

It was only the second complete game of Garcia’s professional career as the other one was in 2016 with the Bowie Baysox the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, but was the first shut out of Garcia’s career. 

Sioux City and Texas will play game two of the three game set on Thursday. With first pitch being at 7:05. It will be James Dykstra on the hill for Sioux City against Sean Stutzman of Texas.