By BRIAN BRUCE, Tbonesbaseball.com
SIOUX CITY, Iowa- Adrian Martinez launched a walk-off solo home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Sioux City Explorers a 3-2 win over Kansas City at Lewis and Clark Park on Tuesday night.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, after right-hander Sean Toler picked up the last two outs of the seventh inning and worked a scoreless eighth, Josh Rainwater (4-10), who’s normally a starter, gave up the game-winner to Martinez on a 3-1 pitch.
The T-Bones have lost six in a row and dropped to .500, 44-44, on the season.
Kansas City starter Lucas Irvine struck out 11 Explorers and allowed only one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.
With a strong pitching performance from Irvine, the T-Bones took the lead in the second on a two-out, two-run single by Adam De La Garza, who went three for four on the night.
Sioux City battled back, scoring a run on one walk, two T-Bones errors and an RBI groundout in the third inning. The Explorers then tied the game 2-2 on an RBI single by Martinez in the fourth inning.
Game two of the three-game set is slated for 7:05 on Wednesday night. The game can be heard on 1660-AM (the KMBZ Business Channel) or online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.
