Fish move into a tie for first with blowout of St. Paul
Published on July 2, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
Nothing in baseball beats the combination of a great start and a great starter. Because of that, the Winnipeg Goldeyes now have a share of first place in the American Association's North Division.
Winnipeg lefty Chris Salamida pitched six solid innings, allowing only two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts, while the Goldeyes bats continued to boom, as Winnipeg drilled the visiting St. Paul Saints 11-3 in front 6,112 ticket holders at Shaw Park on Saturday night.
While Salamida kept the Saints on their heels, the Goldeyes pounded out 11 hits to win their sixth game in their last seven outings and their fifth straight at home to move into a first-place tie with St. Paul atop the AA's North Division. Both teams have identical records of 28-18.
"It's the recipe for success on our team, get good starting pitching," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. "Chris gave us a great start. He did an excellent job. He really competed out there.
"If we don't make a couple of errors on routine ground balls, he'd probably have pitched into the seventh inning. He really did an excellent job for us."
The Goldeyes hitters were pretty good too - again! Every Goldeyes starter except Louis Ott had at least one RBI, every starter except Luis Alen scored a run and every starter except Kody Kaiser had a hit. Regardless, Kaiser contributed. He played three different positions, scored a run and drove one in.
After St. Paul took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Winnipeg answered right back as Jon Weber singled, went to third on a single by Luis Alen and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Justin Bass.
The Fish made 6-1 in the third when, with one out, Price Kendall was safe on an error. Kendall stole second and then went to third on a pass ball. Kody Kaiser walked and stole second and with two runners in scoring position, Wes Long drove them home with a double to the right-centrefield gap (Long now leads the Goldeyes with 36 RBI). Brian Myrow was walked intentionally and then Weber drove home Long with a single. Alen then singled home Myrow and the Goldeyes had all they would need.
The Fish picked up another run in the fourth when Brian Joynt hit a solo homer and then, after St. Paul's Jonathan van Every hit a solo bomb in the fifth to make it 7-2, the Goldeyes added four in the sixth.
Justin Bass led off with a solo homer, his ninth of the season then Lou Ott singled, Joynt walked and both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Kendall drove home Ott with a single and then Kody Kaiser drove home Joynt with a sacrifice fly. Myrow drove home Kendall with a single and the Goldeyes had enough runs to move 10 games over .500.
"We're really getting timely hitting," Forney added. "We're getting big hits with runners in scoring position. And it's not two or three guys, it's everybody in the lineup. And we're situational hitting right now better than any Goldeyes team that I've seen."
Salamida (5-1, 3.27 ERA) earned the win for Winnipeg, while St. Paul starter Jake Schmidt (5-2, 5.09 ERA) took the loss. There was no save.
On Sunday afternoon, Isaac Hess (3-0, 3.82 ERA) will get the start for Winnipeg in Game 2 of this rare Saturday-Tuesday four-game series. Matt Long (5-3, 4.70) will toe the slab for St. Paul.
Game time is 1:35 p.m. and can be heard live, with Paul Edmonds, on Sports Radio 1290.
American Association Stories from July 2, 2011
- More Comeback Fireworks as Captains Erase Three-Run Ninth-Inning Deficit, Win 6-5 in 10 - Shreveport-Bossier Captains
- Wichita Walks Away with 7-6 Win Over T-Bones - Kansas City Monarchs
- Wingnuts Rally Past T-Bones in Ninth - Wichita Wingnuts
- American Association Results - AA
- RailCats Streak Snapped after 5-2 Loss to Sioux Falls - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- AirHogs battery combine to beat Cats again - Grand Prairie AirHogs
- Pheasants beat Gary to win fourth in a row - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Fish move into a tie for first with blowout of St. Paul - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- It's Not Pretty as Saints Lose 11-3 to Goldeyes - St. Paul Saints
- Goldeyes Activate Baldwin - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- QuikTrip Park to Host Biker Fest July 9 - Grand Prairie AirHogs
- Sioux Falls Takes Final Game Of Series - Sioux City Explorers
- Saints Give RedHawks Laber Pains With Four Game Sweep - St. Paul Saints
- Jennings Out-Duels Mackey; AirHogs Score Late to Win - Grand Prairie AirHogs
- American Association Recap - AA
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.
