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X’s Unable to Win Longest Game In League History

Gary, IN (June 12, 2021) – The Sioux City Explorers played a marathon game on Saturday night that lasted 15 innings and close to six hours but eventually lost to the Gary SouthShore RailCats 6-5. 

The game lasted five hours and forty-eight minutes, making it the longest regular season game in American Association history. Breaking the mark set on July 10, 2018 in an 18 inning game between Winnipeg and Sioux Falls that lasted five hours and thirty-three minutes. 

Sioux City and Gary traded runs in the first inning and a Sebastian Zawada solo home run briefly gave Sioux City a 2-1 lead. 

Gary would tie the game in the fourth and used another rally in the fifth to take a lead over the X’s. A Michael Woodworth double immediately scored Hayden Schilling who reached on a lead off walk and scored from first. An Alec Olund base hit scored the second run of the frame and the final run scored on a Sioux City error. The Cats led 5-2 as they have now scored nine runs combined in the two fifth innings of this series. 

Making the first start of his professional career, X’s starter Joe Riley went four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk as he took a no decision. 

But what the fifth inning has been for the RailCats this series, is what the seventh is to Sioux City. LT Tolbert started off the seventh by blasting a home run to right field to cut the deficit to two. After a Chase Harris single, Jose Sermo erased said deficit with a laser over the left field wall to tie the game 5-5. 

LT Tolbert had a massive offensive output for the X’s. He collected four hits, two being doubles and the homer. He scored twice and drove in a run. 

However the score would remain that way for the next eight innings of play as both bullpens would shut down the opposition. For Sioux City they emptied the bullpen as Brandon Brosher, Jose Velez, Nate Gercken, Matt Pobereyko and Max Kuhns all combined to throw 10 innings of shutout baseball. Combining to allow only five hits, four walks while striking out 14. 

For Gary SouthShore it was Nolan Clenney who tossed 2.2 innings scoreless and Jesse Remington who provided five shutout innings of relief for the Cats. 

Sioux City struggled to score runs in the game if it wasn’t for the long ball. The X’s were 1-17 with runners in scoring position and went 0-8 in extra innings. Twice in the 13th and 15th Sioux City had the go ahead run in scoring position with nobody out and could not score. 

Gary ended up winning it in the 15th after an initial ground out hit three consecutive singles to walk it off. 

Danny Hrbek (1-2) was handed the loss as he only pitched in the 15th and Cas Silber (2-0) earned the win as he worked around a Tolbert lead off double in the 15th. 

Sioux City now has to pick themselves up almost immediately as the rubber game of the series will be played on Sunday at 2:10 pm. The X’s will send LHP Brett Adcock to the bump (1-2, 5.06) and he will be faced by Jack Alkire (1-2, 4.71).