Sioux City 10, Laredo 2 (Sioux City leads series, 1-0) — Box Score
The Sioux City Explorers took a 1-0 lead in the American Association Championship Series as they racked up 19 hits and topped the Laredo Lemurs 10-2 at Uni-Trade Stadium.
Sioux City took the lead right away as they put three runs on the board in the top of the first inning. SS Noah Perio pushed the first run of the night across with a sacrifice fly that scored RF Michael Lang. In the next at-bat, 2B Ryan Court doubled to score both 1B Rene Tosoni and DH Brock Kjelgaard.
The score stayed level at 3-0 until the eighth inning when the Explorers added four more runs to their lead. C Matt Koch plated Court with a fielder’s choice and then, later in the inning, Tosoni singled to center field to score both Lang and CF Matty Johnson.
The Lemurs got on the board in the bottom of the frame as SS Ty Forney singled to score 2B Abel Nieves and RF Denis Phipps. But Sioux City tacked on three more runs – one on a single from Johnson and two on a single from Tosoni – to put the game away in the top of the ninth.
Johnson, Tosoni and Court each had three hits on the night at Tosoni had a game-high five RBI. For the Lemurs, six different batters each registered hits in the game and CF Drew Martinez had a team-high two hits.
American Association Pitcher of the Year Patrick Johnson earned the win in Game 1 as he went six innings without allowing a run on four hits. Johnson struck out 10 of the 25 batters he faced.
Game 2 is set for Thursday at Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo.
Fans can watch select American Association games live and for free at www.americanassociationbaseball.tv.
