Big Seventh Inning Propels Goldeyes to Win
Published on July 20, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
Sometimes all it takes is one big inning.
The Winnipeg Goldeyes scored four times in the bottom of the seventh on Wednesday night to come back from a 4-3 deficit and beat the Sioux City Explorers 7-5 in front of 5,487 spectators at Shaw Park.
With the win, the Goldeyes moved 2.5 games ahead of the St. Paul Saints in the North Division of the American Association with a record of 40-23. The Goldeyes have now won two straight from Sioux City, clinched the three-game series and moved 17 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 12, 2009.
Tuesday's victory was especially sweet considering the Saints lost 14-6 to Sioux Falls in the afternoon.
"We have a team that plays nine complete innings every night," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney, who is only four victories away from 300 in his career. "Our team is built on nine players, not just one or two, and all nine players can contribute on different nights."
That's what the Goldeyes did on Wednesday. Despite the fact starter Luis Villareal scuffled, allowing four runs on seven hits, the bullpen picked him up and the bats came to his rescue in the seventh.
The Goldeyes scored twice in the first as Price Kendall led off with a single and then Kody Kaiser singled, sending Kendall to third. Kaiser stole second (his league-leading 27th of the year) and then Jon Weber drove home both runners with a double.
In the second inning, Louis Ott singled and then scored on a double by Ridge Carpenter, but Sioux City put up two in the third and two in the fourth and held a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the seventh.
But that's when the Goldeyes bats exploded. Ott led off with a single, Carpenter beat out a bunt and then Kendall beat out a bunt to load the bases. Kaiser singled to score Ott and Carpenter and send Kendall to third. Kendall then scored on a single by Brian Myrow.
"We needed to come back because if you build a lead in this league and you don't keep it up, the teams are good enough to come back on you," Forney said. "That's what happened tonight. That's a good team (Sioux City) over there. Our starter was scuffling, couldn't get his first pitch over for strikes, but he battled and got us through six innings before we had to go to the bullpen. The fact he got us through the sixth made a big difference for us."
Reliever Aaron Cook (1-0, 4.66 ERA) got the win for the Goldeyes, while Ty Marotz (4-3, 4.92) suffered the loss for the Explorers. Jamie Vermilyea recorded his ninth save of the season for Winnipeg.
The final game of this three-game series goes Thursday evening at 7 at Shaw Park. The game can be heard live with Paul Edmonds, on Sports Radio 1290 or can be seen live on Shaw TV with Scott Taylor and Jim Toth.
Great seats for all Goldeyes games are available by visiting at Ticketmaster location, clicking on Ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-855-GOLDEYE.
American Association Stories from July 20, 2011
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- X's Drop First Game Of Series In Winnipeg - Sioux City Explorers
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- American Association Game Recaps - AA
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