May 20, 2013
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Fish Comeback Again, Lead Championship Series 2-0

September 13, 2012 - American Association (AA) Winnipeg Goldeyes

Amos Ramon said he knew it was coming. The Winnipeg Goldeyes third baseman figured Wichita Wingnuts pitcher Ryan Hinson was going to throw him a 1-0 cutter in the bottom of the sixth inning.

And that's exactly what Ramon saw - looking as big as a grapefruit - when he barreled-up and drilled the pitch over the leftfield wall for the three-run home run that gave the Goldeyes a 5-3 lead and eventually a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American Association championship final.

The Goldeyes got two more runs in the eighth on a two-run double by Chris Roberson and won Game 2 of the series 7-3. The Fish will now head off to Wichita for Game 3 on Friday night and Games 4 and 5 on Saturday and Sunday, if necessary.

"He threw me a cutter in and it was the pitch I was expecting," said Ramon after the ballgame. "He'd been throwing it on 1-0 all night long. As soon as he missed with the first pitch, I just said to myself, 'I'm going to see the cutter in right here.' I kind of knew it was coming."

At the time, the Goldeyes trailed 3-2. Ramon's blast, his second of the post-season and the second one he has ever hit at Shaw Park, gave Goldeyes starter Chris Salamida and the bullpen of Chris Allen, Zach Baldwin and Brian Beuning plenty to work with as Winnipeg took a 2-0 series lead.

Winnipeg opened the scoring in the first inning as Yurendell de Caster was hit by a pitch, went around to third on a double by Barbaro Canizares and scored on a wild pitch by Hinson.

Wichita took a 3-1 lead in the second when catcher Jesse Mier, who was hitting .133 in the post-season, hit a three-run homer off Salamida. But the Goldeyes starter didn't allow another run and the hitters started to heat up.

Winnipeg made it 3-2 in the bottom of the third when Ramon singled and came around to score when Josh Mazzola walked with the bases loaded.

Then Ramon pulled off his heroics in the sixth. Mazzola singled, Mike Coles was hit by a pitch and with two out Ramon drilled Hinson's cutter deep into the night.

Roberson added a pair of runs in the eighth with a two-run double and then, despite some nervous moments in the ninth, Beuning held the Wingnuts scoreless and Winnipeg had its 7-3 victory.

"That game was big for us," said Ramon. "It was just great tonight. We want to win this thing for the city. The fans here have been great to us. It was so loud in here tonight. It was incredible. It was just great. These fans are always driving us to do better."

Salamida (1-0, 4.26 ERA) got the win for Winnipeg while Hinson (1-1, 4.38 ERA) suffered the loss. Beuning picked up his fourth save of the post-season as he worked in his fifth straight game.

The Goldeyes and Wingnuts will play Game 3 of this best-of-five championship final on Friday night at Laurence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kansas. Matt Rusch (1-0, 1.29 ERA) will get the start for Winnipeg while Derek Blacksher will toe the slab for Wichita.

Game time is 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on TSN 1290 with Paul Edmonds calling the play-by-play.

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American Association Stories from September 13, 2012


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