Abercrombie Ends Goldeyes Skid
Published on July 13, 2014 under American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
Reggie Abercrombie saw a hanging curveball and ended the Winnipeg Goldeyes losing streak at five games.
Gary Southshore RailCats reliever Ethan Gibbons left a curveball up and over the plate with Brock Bond on second and one out in the bottom of the 11 th inning and Abercrombie drilled it over the left field wall to give the Goldeyes a 4-2 win over the RailCats on a cool, rainy Sunday afternoon at Shaw Park.
With only a handful of the 5,232 who showed up to watch the Goldeyes finish a three-game series with Gary remaining in the ballpark, the Fish ended their longest slump of the season and improved to 35-19 with a thrilling 11 th inning, walk-off, two-run bomb.
"He left a curveball up in the zone and I was to get all of it," said Abercrombie who was still covered in shaving cream and talcum powder from the post-game celebration. "Like I've said, I've been struggling since we returned home from Fargo and I've been doing a lot of extra work. But Rick (manager Forney) talked to me the other day and told me that everything would come around my teammates have been behind throughout the whole thing and I just can't say enough about them."
With the victory, the Goldeyes remained 5 1/2 games ahead of St. Paul in the race for first in the American Association's North Division. The Saints will come to Winnipeg to play five games in about 2 1/2 days, starting Tuesday.
Despite the victory, Forney said he was heartbroken from starter, Chris Salamida. After all, Salamida pitched 8 1/3 innings and didn't allow an earned run but didn't get the win because of an error in the ninth that turned a 2-0 Goldeyes lead into a 2-2 tie.
"I really am heartbroken for Sal," Forney said. "He pitched his heart out today and he deserved to get the win. I'm just so disappointed we couldn't get it for him. He was outstanding at a time when we needed a starter to be outstanding. The bullpen has been great, but we needed to give them some time off and what Sal gave us today is exactly what we needed.
The Goldeyes took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Luis Alen walked, Jordan Guida dropped down a sacrifice bunt and ended up being safe on an error that sent Alen to third. Tyler Kuhn drove home Alen with a solid single that sent Guida to third and Guida scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bond.
Salamida proceeded to pitch brilliantly, but he was blindsided in the ninth. Gary's Zac Mitchell singled, Ryan Babineau struck out looking and pinch hitter Cody Bishop doubled to score Mitchell. Brendan Lafferty replaced Salamida and he immediately got Wally Backman to hit a ground ball to first. But with the wet ball in the rain, first baseman Casey Haerther flipped the ball over Lafferty's head, scoring Bishop to tie the game.
The Goldeyes finished with four runs on six hits while Gary managed only two runs on 10 hits.
In his first day as a member of the Goldeyes, newcomer Cephas Howard got the win (2-1, 3.86 ERA). Howard faced one batter in the 11 th and got him to fly to left on the second pitch. Gibbons (0-1, 2.31 ERA) took the loss. There was no save.
The Goldeyes will have Monday off then start a five-games-in-three-days series with a doubleheader on Tuesday night against the St. Paul Saints. Game 1 will be the completion of a game that was suspended due to rain on June 14. No pitchers have been determined for the continuation of the nine-inning game, which will start with two-out in the bottom of the third inning.
In Game 2, a seven-inning game, Matt Jackson (7-3, 3.69 ERA) will get the start for Winnipeg while Nick Barnese (3-5, 3.63 ERA) will take to the bump for St. Paul.
Tickets for all 2014 Winnipeg Goldeyes games and the 2014 American Association All-Star Game are available through Ticketmaster by clicking on Goldeyes.com, calling 1-855-GOLDEYE or visiting any Ticketmaster location, including the Shaw Park box office.
American Association Stories from July 13, 2014
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
- Abercrombie Ends Goldeyes Skid - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Testa and Klipp Ambush Amarillo for Series Sweep - Wichita Wingnuts
- Late Runs Push Saints Past T-Bones - Kansas City Monarchs
- Saints Char T-Bones in 11-7 Win - St. Paul Saints
- Green Giant as Saltdogs Take Series in Jersey - Lincoln Saltdogs
- Goldeyes Acquire Howard from Amarillo - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- American Association Results - AA
- Heat Pull Even In 2nd Place With 2-0 Win - Laredo Lemurs
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