CLEBURNE, Texas — Ending a four-game skid, the Sioux City Explorers nipped Cleburne Railroaders 6-5 in 10 innings Thursday night.
The X’s rode a seven inning, one-run start from Jared Wetherbee along with a big night from Matt Lloyd to get their third win in the last 10 games. Sioux City now sits alone in second place in the American Association's West Division.
Playing their second extra inning game of the series and their fourth in the last eight games, the Explorers started the top of the 10th with Jake Sanford at second base due to the extra inning tie-breaker rule. With Joe Corbett on the mound for Cleburne. Kyle Kasser led off with an infield single. Lloyd, the hottest bat in the league, stepped up to the plate with one out and delivered his second home run of the game over the left field wall to make it a 6-3 ball game.
The X’s dodged a final challenge from Cleburne in the bottom of the 10th. With Alex Jackson at second to start the inning for Cleburne, Zach Nehrir singled to put runners at first and third off Sean Rackoski. The X’s closer then hit Jose Curpa with a pitch to load the bases. Hill Alexander lined out to first base for the first out of the inning. Rackoski struck out Brian Klein for out number two. Cleburne cut the deficit to one run when Mark Karaviotis delivered a two-RBI single. Sioux City then brought in Brandon Brosher, who retired Guillermo Quintana on a fly to center to preserve the win.
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The game started with Sioux City gaining an early lead as Daniel Perez knocked an RBI single off Cleburne starter Travis Perry, scoring Lloyd. Jared Wetherbee issued a leadoff walk, but he settled in for the X’s, retiring the next three in order to end the first inning with a lead, 1-0.
The game got fun in the fourth inning as Jack Kelly hit an RBI single off Perry to make it 2-0, but the Railroaders responded with a blast from Hill Alexander in the bottom half of the inning. The reigning batter of the week Matt Lloyd followed, crushing his own home run in the fifth, extending the X’s lead 3-1.
Cleburne got rolling again against the X’s bullpen as Delino DeShields started off the eighth inning with a leadoff homer to cut into the deficit and make it 3-2 off lefty Carlos Diaz. The X’s then went down one-two-three in the top of the ninth as they turned to Rackoski to finish the game. Cleburne loaded the bases to set up a DeShields sacrifice fly that tied it 3-3, sending the game into extra innings.
The X’s (11-9) started a three-game series against the Kane County Cougars Friday night at Lewis and Clark Park. Results of the game were too late for the Journal's deadline for Saturday's print edition.