The Lincoln Saltdogs suffered their fourth straight extra-inning loss on Thursday, falling 2-1 in ten innings at Sioux Falls.  Lincoln drops to 25-20 on the second half of the season, and now sits in a first-place tie with Wichita in the American Association North.

As was the case the previous three nights, the game came to a sudden end for the Saltdogs.  In the bottom of the tenth inning, Beau Torbert led off with a solo home run off of Lincoln reliever (1-4), who had been activated from the disabled list earlier in the day.  The blast marked the third time in four nights that the Saltdogs were beaten by a walkoff homer in extra innings.

Lincoln starter Tim Brown made yet another outstanding start, allowing no earned runs over his 7.1 innings of work on seven hits.  The Saltdogs staked Brown to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Rafael Alvarez, his sixth of the season, but the Lincoln defense failed Brown in the bottom of the eighth.  Cody Haerther reached on an error with one out, and went to second on a Torbert single.  Cory Harris followed with another single, but the throw to the plate appeared to trap Haerther between third and home.  Saltdogs catcher Tycen Povey threw the ball away, however, allowing Haerther to score the tying run.  Jim Paduch came on in relief to strike out two hitters with the bases loaded and escape further damage.

Alvarez finished the night 2-for-2 with a home run, a double and two walks.  The Saltdogs managed just five hits over nine innings against Canaries starter Ben Moore, who struck out 11 on the night.

The two teams play game two of their four-game series Friday night at 7:05.  Righty Gregorio Martinez will make the start for Lincoln.

For more team and ticket information, go to www.saltdogs.com.