712.277.WINS (9467)

BOX SCORE

Sioux City, IA-The Explorers held Rockland scoreless for the first seven innings before their two-game win streak was eventually snapped with a ten-inning, 2-1 loss Tuesday night at Lewis & Clark Park.

After five straight scoreless innings to start the game, Sioux City (15-24) plated its only run of the night in the sixth. Back-to-back walks of Oscar Mesa and Andres Perez put the first two on base. Rene Tosoni then moved both runners up to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. Nate Samson followed with a line-drive out to center on a hard-hit ball that allowed Mesa to tag from third and score.

Rockland (17-13) finally broke through to even the score two innings later in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Antone DeJesus singled to center on a line-drive and then stole second. The next batter, Ryan Stovall, smashed a triple to left-center that brought home DeJesus with the tying run.

It went extras, and in the tenth the Boulders crashed the X’s party on Pack-the-Park Night. Will Walsh led off for Rockland with a high-fly ball that dropped in shallow left field and turned into a double. Sean O’Hare moved Walsh to third with a sacrifice bunt. With the infield drawn in, Matt Nandin hit a sharp grounder to second and the play came home but Walsh slid around the tag for a 2-1 lead. Sioux City had a lead-off walk in the bottom of the tenth erased by a caught stealing.

On the mound, Fray Martinez posted the win in relief for Rockland. Martinez (2-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning and struck out two with one walk. Alex Kreis pitched the tenth to pick up his fifth save of the season. For Sioux City, Jimmer Kennedy took the loss in relief. Kennedy (3-5) worked two-and-a-third and gave up one earned run on three hits with one strikeout.

One night after the two teams combined for 18 runs and 25 hits, they managed just three runs on ten hits. There were no errors in the game, and each team left seven runners stranded. The Explorers are 2-5 in extras, and 4-10 in one run games this season.

Sioux City continues its seven-game home stand Wednesday night with the third of four against Rockland of the Can-Am League. First pitch against the Boulders is set for 7:05 p.m. For ticket information and promotion specials at Lewis & Clark Park, call 712-277-WINS or visit the Explorers website at www.xsbaseball.com.