The Sioux City Explorers won 4-1 over the T-Bones in the first playoff game Tuesday night, largely on the strength of the pitching of James Dykstra, who threw a two-hitter.
The South Division Series playoffs in the American Association are currently at T-Bones Stadium, where the two teams are scheduled to play again at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas.
Sioux City jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a one out single by Michael Lang and an RBI single from Nate Samson off T-Bones ace Tommy Collier.
A sacrifice fly by Jose Sermo scored Samson from second in deep center field. Todd Cunningham made a fantastic defensive play diving with his back to the infield to make the play off the bat of Sermo, but the throw back to the infield was off line to the cutoff man, helping Samson score.
The T-Bones cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fourth. Cunningham walked, and Noah Perio Jr. followed with a double to put runners at second and third.
Adrian Nieto then made it a 2-1 game on a fielder’s choice RBI to second but that was as close as the T-Bones got. Dykstra retired the next eight in a row to keep the KC bats in the freezer.
Sermo hit a solo home run in the sixth and Blake Schmit added another in the seventh, both off Collier, to close out the Sioux City scoring. In the bottom of the ninth, KC got a two-out hit and walk, but a superb diving play by X’s right fielder Lang ended the ball game with a final 4-1.
Dykstra (1-0) got the win while Collier (0-1) took the loss.
The Kansas City T-Bones did not have much rest before Tuesday night’s game. They were playing Monday afternoon in Gary, Indiana, and returned home in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, around 3 a.m., to open the playoff series with the Sioux City Explorers. The Explorers had a shorter drive from their series in Wichita on Monday, arriving here at 7 p.m. Monday.
The teams will play game two of the best of five game series at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at T-Bones Stadium. Right-handed pitcher Barrett Astin (10-3, 5.81) will try to even the series for Kansas City, while right-handed pitcher Jason Garcia (3-0, 1.57) will go for a 2-0 stranglehold on the series for Sioux City.
Tickets are $8 tonight for any seat, except the suites. Call 913-328-5618 or visit tbonesbaseball.com for more information.
The game can be heard online on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.
– Story from T-Bones