SIOUX CITY, Iowa – One inning was the difference Friday night in the season opener for the Sioux City Explorers. The Kansas City Monarchs used a four-run, four-hit fourth inning to take game one of the three-game series 4-0.
It was a pitchers’ duel out the gate, with just one runner reaching base between the first two innings when Sioux City’s Daniel Perez took a walk in the bottom of the second. X’s starter Joey Murray retired the first eight Monarchs before he faced some trouble with runners reaching the corners in the top of the third, but he worked out of the jam by inducing a flyout from Monarchs’ Josh Bissonette.
In the bottom of the third, the Explorers put runners on first and second, but they ultimately couldn’t get them around to score.
After a scoreless three innings, Kansas City began to find their groove, with five consecutive batters reaching safely. Monarchs’ Travis Swaggerty was the first to score after he came home on a wild pitch from Murray with the bases loaded. Following a walk to Cameron Cannon, Hayden Jones made it a 3-0 Monarchs’ lead by knocking a two-RBI double, sending home Kansas City’s Frankie Tostado and Tucker Bradley. The rally continued when Monarchs’ Herbert Iser followed with a sacrifice fly that sent Cameron Cannon home, making it a 4-0 game.
The X’s turned to reliever Evan Johnson after Murray walked the bases loaded, and Sioux City got out of the inning without any more trouble thanks to a double play. Both pitchers continued to dominate, with Kansas City’s Goudeau going five complete innings before he was pulled and Explorers’ Johnson totaling 3.2 innings of perfect baseball.
The Monarchs turned to Grant Gavin in the sixth, who followed up with his own brilliance, dealing three innings of perfect baseball himself. Brandon Brosher checked in for the X’s in the eighth inning, and while he allowed two runners on in the frame, he finished it off scoreless.
Brosher dealt a perfect ninth, bringing his total to four strikeouts in his two innings of work. In the bottom of the inning, Kansas City’s Jackson McClelland came in to close it down. Explorers’ Nick Shumpert was able to work a two-out single, but ultimately, Sioux City was held scoreless.
The Explorers and Monarchs will play game two of the three-game series Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. at Mercy One Field at Lewis and Clark Park.
