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AA Winnipeg Goldeyes

Canadian Content Gets It Done for Goldeyes

May 31, 2012 - American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release


Winnipeg Goldeyes rookie shortstop David Narodowski doubled in the bottom of the 10th inning with one out and nobody on. It was hardly a dramatic event, but it did give the Goldeyes a chance with Price Kendall coming to the plate.

This time, however, Kendall didn't need to do anything except get out of the way.

A wild pitch by Amarillo Sox reliever Andrew Bowman sent Narodowski to third and then a second wild pitch with Kendall still at the plate allowed Narodowski to come home with the winning run as the Goldeyes beat the Sox 3-2 to sweep Amarillo out of Shaw Park.

"It was one of those things. It's great to have a team that can find a way to win," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney on the TSN Sports Radio 1290 post-game show. "I'm very proud of the game David had today. He got the job done at the plate and he played well in the field. We have a good problem right now. We have some young guys who are playing their way onto the team, not off it.

"We have a new pitcher coming in and (backup catcher) Kyle Day is ready to come off the injured list so we're going to have to make room on the roster for them. We have some decisions to make in the next few days and our young players are making that decision difficult."

It was an interesting afternoon at the ballpark. With a rare 11:05 a.m. first pitch, Goldeyes starter Matthew Rusch was definitely ready to go.

Rusch threw six innings and allowed no runs on six hits, walked only two and struck out six, but he also picked off two Sox runners at first. When he left the game, the Goldeyes had a 2-0 lead.

But Amarillo scored a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Jason White (who had four hits on the afternoon) and then Van Pope of the Sox hit a solo homer off Kaohi Downing in the eighth to tie the game at 2-2.

But then came Narodowski, the kid from Vancouver, in the 10th. The double was his second hit of the night and the winning run was his second of the season as he finished the game with two hits in four trips and raised his batting average from .182 to .267.

Meanwhile, five Goldeyes pitchers allowed two runs on 10 scattered hits as Winnipeg improved to 9-3 and held on to first place in the American Association's North Division.

"I thought our pitching was really solid today," said pitching coach Bill Pulsipher. "Rusch was outstanding and young (Chris) Kaminski (who earned the win) threw extremely well in the 10th. But Rusch did a great job. And just think how good he'll be when he gets that change-up working. He's going to get even better."

It was a big day for Goldeyes third baseman Amos Ramon. Ramon came into the game with a .222 average and went three-for-four with a double and a run scored and raised his average to .275.

"We have a really good team," said Ramon, who was named player-of-the-game on the Shaw TV broadcast. "I think this team is going to win a lot of games before this season is over."

The Goldeyes play again on Friday night when they welcome the Gary Southshore RailCats to Winnipeg. Lefty Fabian Williamson will get the start for the Goldeyes.

Game time is 7 p.m., tickets are available at Ticketmaster and the game will be broadcast on TSN Sports Radio 1290.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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