Goldeyes Take Series Opener the Hard Way
Published on July 19, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
It took 10 innings, but the Winnipeg Goldeyes' RBI leader got it done -- the hard way.
Wes Long was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in his team-leading 54th run of the season in the bottom of the 10th to give the Goldeyes a thrilling 3-2 victory over the visiting Sioux City Explorers on Tuesday night.
With Ridge Carpenter on third, Price Kendall on second and Kody Kaiser on first, Sioux City reliever Eddie Delacruz had a 1-1 count on Long when he inexplicably hit him on the arm. As 5,085 spectators at Shaw Park looked on in disbelief, Long trotted to first, Carpenter trotted home and the Goldeyes improved to 39-23 on the season.
"I tell ya, if you watch enough American Association games, you will eventually see everything," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. "We were lucky tonight. Isaac (starter Hess) was fantastic but our hitters were just a little impatient. I thought we were going to be in the same situation we were in on Sunday when we lost 4-1. But (Aaron) Hartsock came in and pitched well and our rookies were outstanding in that 10th inning and we got the win.
"How about our rookies in the 10th' Ridge Carpenter gets the bunt single to get us started and then Price Kendall comes up with that big hit for us to send Ridge to third. With Kendall, Carpenter, Chad Benefield and Ian Thomas, I think we have the best rookies in the league."
Carpenter went one-for-three and scored the winning run while Kendall went one-for-four and set up the winning run. Both were flawless in the field. Kendall is now batting .296 while Carpenter is hitting .357. Forney might be right about his rookies considering Thomas and Benefield are two of his best pitchers.
"Isaac Hess was really good tonight, too," Forney said. "He threw his two-seamer for strikes and his change up was very good. He also threw a couple of curve balls for strikes. He didn't waste a lot of pitches tonight like he has in the past. That's the second good start in a row from Isaac and he's really starting to fit in comfortably as our No. 1 starter."
The Goldeyes opened the scoring in the second inning when Jon Weber scored from third on a single by Lou Ott.
It was nothing but zeroes on the board for the next five innings until Sioux City scored twice in the top of the eighth. But Kody Kaiser hit a solo homer to the opposite field in the eighth to tie it. That set up Long's rather painful heroics in the 10th.
Reliever Aaron Hartsock (1-1, 1.11 ERA), got the win for the Goldeyes, while Eddie Delacruz (4-5, 2.93) suffered the loss for the Explorers. The Goldeyes are now 16 games above .500 and have a game and a half lead over St. Paul in the race for first in the American Association's North Division.
Game 2 of this three-game series goes Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at Shaw Park. The game can be heard live with Paul Edmonds, on Sports Radio 1290.
American Association Stories from July 19, 2011
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