AA Winnipeg Goldeyes

Great Pitching Leads Goldeyes to Victory

July 12, 2015 - American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release


Nick Hernandez, Brad Mincey, Rett Varner, Brendan Lafferty and Jailen Pegeuro were brilliant.

And thanks to the outstanding pitching of five different Goldeyes, the hometown Fish beat the powerful St. Paul Saints 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.

It was only the second time this season that the Saints have lost two in a row and the first time they've lost two straight to the same team. Monday night, the Goldeyes have a chance to become the first team to take three straight from the Saints this season.

With the win, Winnipeg has now taken two straight from the Saints and lead this four-game series 2-1. St. Paul, now 37-12, has not lost a series all season. The Goldeyes improved to 21-27 on Sunday and are now 15 1/2 games back of the Saints in the North Division of the American Association.

"They (the Saints) have some very good hitters in the middle of that lineup and they can get on a roll and put up a lot of runs in a hurry on you," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. "For awhile now, our pitchers have been very good. We're keeping the ball down and away from the hitters and you can have a lot of success if you keep the ball down and pound the strike zone.

"Today, Nick had a solid start on a hot day. It's tough to pitch a lot of innings in that heat and then we got 3 1/3 shutout innings from that bullpen. Mincey has a great sinker, a lot of drop on that fastball while Varner got a big out for us. Lafferty was outstanding today and Peguero went out there and did what he does. No matter how good hitters you have, good pitching can beat it. Miguel Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez make a lot of outs when they face good pitching."

Hernandez got it started by allowing only two runs on five hits over the first 5 2/3 innings. Mincey got the next three outs, Varner got the final out in the seventh, Lafferty pitched a hitless eighth and then Peguero was electric, pitching a scoreless, hitless ninth.

The Goldeyes trailed 2-0 when they scored all of their runs in the fifth. Brad Boyer led off with a single and went to second on a walk to Brady Wilson. Adam Heisler then singled to load the bases before Chris Robinson's sacrifice fly scored Boyer. After an infield single by Casey Haerther loaded the bases again, Jon Weber singled to right to score Wilson and Heisler with the game-tying and eventual game-winning runs.

The Goldeyes finished with three runs on seven hits, while St. Paul had only two runs on five hits. None of the four Goldeyes relievers allowed a hit.

Weber, who raised his batting average to a team-leading .331, was the only Goldeyes hitter to have a multi-hit game. He had a pair of singles in four trips.

Hernandez (6-2, 1.99 ERA) picked up the victory for the Goldeyes while St. Paul starter Robert Coe (4-2, 3.35) was tagged with the loss. Peguero earned his ninth save of the season.

The Goldeyes and Saints will play the final game of this four-game series on Monday at 7:05 p.m. at Shaw Park. Right-hander Matt Jackson (3-5, 5.37 ERA) will get the start for Winnipeg. 0 0 1 480 2736 Wintergreen Financial Services Ltd.

Tickets for all Goldeyes home games in 2015 are available through Ticketmaster by clicking on Goldeyes.com, calling 1-855-GOLDEYE or visiting any Ticketmaster location, including the Shaw Park box office.

Check out the Winnipeg Goldeyes Statistics



American Association Stories from July 12, 2015


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