Goldeyes Pull Away Late to Take Series Opener from RailCats
July 24, 2009 - Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
WINNIPEG, Manitoba. - Ace Walker fired his third complete game of the season and Brent Metheny scored the game-winning run with a straight steal of home as the Winnipeg Goldeyes beat the Gary SouthShore RailCats 9-3 Friday night at Canwest Park in the opener of a three-game series between the Northern League's two best teams.
Walker (7-3) gave up three runs in the first three innings but settled in to control the second half of the game and retired the last 10 he faced in order to finish the second complete game in his last three starts. The RailCats scored twice in the second, starting after Steve Haake reached when Cory Patton dropped his line drive in center and Jordan Czarniecki singled him home. Czarniecki himself scored three batters later when Brett Wallace drove a two-out single into center.
As they did all night, however, the Goldeyes had an answer in the bottom of the second. Dee Brown led off the inning with his 10th home run, a solo shot off âCats starter Chris Jones (4-2). Mike Massaro had a response in the second, taking Walker deep for his second home run of the year - a new career high - but again it was Winnipeg bouncing right back.
Metheny came up with runners on first and third and one out and doubled to the gap in left-center in the third, scoring Josh Asanovich. Brown followed with a long fly to right to plate the runner Kevin West from third and move Metheny to third with two down. As Jones worked from the windup with only the runner on third, Metheny broke for the plate and slithered around the tag of Wallace to score the go-ahead run.
Walker controlled the game from that point on, allowing only three baserunners the rest of the way. The right-hander did not strike out a single man in his complete game but surrendered only six hits and one walk. Just one of the three runs was charged as an earned run to Walker.
The Goldeyes broke the score open off the RailCats bullpen in the seventh, scoring five times against Tristan Facer and Eddie De la Cruz. The two pitchers combined to walk four in the inning, and Metheny hit a two-run home run off De la Cruz to put an exclamation point on the win.
Jones suffered the loss despite pitching well after the third. The righty retired the last 11 men he faced and gave up five hits and two walks in 6.0 innings, striking out four and allowing four earned runs. The Goldeyes finished with nine hits, getting two each from Metheny and Asanovich. Massaro and Czarniecki each had two hits for the RailCats.
The series between the RailCats (36-26) and Goldeyes (35-23) continues Saturday night at 6 p.m. from Canwest Park. Tom Thornton (7-4, 5.57 ERA) will get the start for the âCats against Winnipeg right-hander Bear Bay (6-2, 3.64 ERA). That game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.
Notes: The win moved the Goldeyes one game ahead of the RailCats in the Northern League standings and snapped a five-game losing streak to the âCats. Despite the losing streak, the Goldeyes have still won eight of 14 games between the two teams this year ... the RailCats have won seven straight series despite losing the first game of four of those sets. Friday's game was the first of a three-game series ... the RailCats only five losses since June 25 have all come by at least six runs ... Massaro's home run was just the fifth of his five-year career. Both of Massaro's 2009 home runs have come at Canwest Park (the first was May 27).
Northern League Stories from July 24, 2009
- Ferrante Homer Lifts Flyers - Schaumburg Flyers
- Flyers Drop RedHawks - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Goldeyes Pull Away Late to Take Series Opener from RailCats - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Correll Helps Joliet Down Kansas City 5-3 - Joliet JackHammers
- Three-Run Seventh Propels Joliet to Victory - Kansas City Monarchs
- Goldeyes Move into First Place - Winnipeg Goldeyes
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