By Michael Barthelemy
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Something’s in the water in Sioux City.
For the sixth time in 10 days, the Sioux City Explorers overtook the Chicago Dogs behind dominant pitching, 5-0. The Dogs registered just five hits.
It was the second consecutive shutout against the Dogs, who have fallen into an offensive lull over the weekend. Explorers’ starter Matt Pobereyko made his 2022 season debut with five scoreless innings in which the righty allowed just two hits and struck out eight. It was Pobereyko’s first start since 2015, when he started 11 games for Kentucky Wesleyan University.
A pair of home runs carried the offensive load for Sioux City. Shortstop Nate Samson hit a solo shot in the second inning to open scoring, and catcher Shane Podsednik made it 5-0 with a two-run shot in the sixth.
The set of losses comes after Chicago put together a dominant three game sweep of the Lake Country DockHounds in which the Dogs scored over six runs per game. Only, the momentum came to a screeching halt upon coming home to Impact Field. Chicago scored five runs on the weekend, behind 16 total hits.
Lefty starter Shane Barringer, who tossed six innings of one-run ball in his last start, struggled to navigate through the Sioux City lineup. The Dogs starter threw 3.2 innings, allowed three runs off of six hits and two walks. Podsednik’s leadoff double in the fourth and sacrifice fly to score him ended the night for Barringer, who raises his season ERA to 5.77.
Similar to the night before, Chicago’s offensive woes came down to not being able to execute with runners aboard. The Dogs were a mere 1-for-12 with runners on base, including two bases loaded opportunities.
The scoring open with a Nate Samson solo home run in the second inning. It marked Samson’s first home run since June and sparked a rally for Sioux City. A hit-by-pitch and two singles loaded the bases for third baseman Blake Tiberi. Barringer got Tiberi to fly out, but the ball was able to travel far enough for Ademar Rifaela to score and make the game 2-0.
Tiberi practiced the same selflessness with a second sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. The Kentucky native finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, but his two RBI proved valuable.
While the Explorers offense continued to get to Barringer, Chicago went silent. Pobereyko retired 14 straight Dogs hitters, including eight strikeouts.
Sioux City pulled away in the sixth inning. With a runner aboard, Podsednik launched his fourth home run in 21 games to make the score 5-0. Chicago had a chance to counter in the bottom half when they earned three consecutive walks to bring up Stevie Wilkerson. The third baseman came into the box on a slump, just two for his last 20 at the plate, and continued the tough stretch with a ground ball out to the second baseman.
The Dogs found themselves in the same spot in the sixth, yet yielded the same results. A leadoff double from Grant Kay followed by two walks to load the bases with one out and the top of the order stepping to the plate. Sitting on a 1-0 count, Charlie Tilson saw three straight strikes blow by him. Michael Crouse sent his 3-2 pitch straight back to the pitcher Nate Gercken for an easy third out. Two bases loaded opportunities, zero to show for it.
Chicago couldn’t string together any late inning offense and ultimately fell 5-0. It completed a Sioux City season sweep of the Dogs, who play the rival Gary SouthShore RailCats following a much-needed day off.