Juan Diaz Blasts Two Home Runs as Goldeyes Sweep RailCats
July 26, 2009 - Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Juan Diaz hit a third inning grand slam, then added a two-run shot in the seventh as the Winnipeg Goldeyes swept the Gary SouthShore RailCats in a three-game series with a 7-4 win Sunday afternoon in front of 5,853 fans at Canwest Park.
Diaz hit his fifth and sixth homers against the RailCats this year with two colossal blasts to left. The veteran slugger drove the first pitch he saw from Garret Holleran (1-2) in the second for his second grand slam in the last 10 days, then blasted a 2-2 pitch from Kyle Heyne in the seventh to drive in Cory Patton from second base. Diaz went 3-for-5 Sunday and finished the three-game series 6-for-13 with three home runs and nine RBI.
The RailCats drew first blood Sunday when Steve Haake led off the second inning with a triple against Mark Michael (2-2) and scored on a Jeff Beachum grounder. The âCats continued to claw out from under the grand slam, getting a run back in the fifth on Rob Marconi's third home run of the year, then another in the sixth when Cristian Guerrero delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 4-3. But Winnipeg answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth and Diaz's home run in the seventh put the game away.
Holleran did not pitch poorly outside of the third inning but took the loss, allowing six hits and five earned runs in six innings. Michael allowed only four hits in his six innings but did walk four and was charged with three runs.
The Goldeyes got revenge for a three-game sweep at the hands of the RailCats July 10-12 at Canwest Park, sweeping the âCats for the second time this year at their home ballpark and winning for the sixth game in a row. With the win, the Goldeyes have extended their lead over the second place RailCats to three games.
Sunday's game was the 13th the two teams have played already this year in Winnipeg, with the Goldeyes winning nine of those games. The teams have played only three times at U. S. Steel Yard and will meet for four more games in Northwest Indiana - August 13-16 - before the end of the regular season.
The RailCats (36-28) will get a day of rest Monday before opening a three-game home-and-home series Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. against the Joliet JackHammers (24-39) at Silver Cross Field. Southpaw Tony Cogan (6-5, 3.52 ERA) will make his league-leading 16th start for the âCats against Joliet right-hander Jason Richardson (2-8, 5.91 ERA). That game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.
Notes: The RailCats were swept for the first time since June 23-25 at Fargo-Moorhead. That series was also the last series loss for the âCats before this weekend ... the RailCats are just 13-19 on the road this year and 6-16 in games played outside Chicagoland ... the RailCats were out-scored in the series 20-11 and out-hit 29-18 ... the Goldeyes won every game on their just-completed six-game homestand, sweeping the RailCats and Kansas City T-Bones.
Northern League Stories from July 26, 2009
- T-Bones Take Series with 7-3 Finale - Kansas City Monarchs
- T-Bones Down JackHammers - Joliet JackHammers
- Juan Diaz Blasts Two Home Runs as Goldeyes Sweep RailCats - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Goldeyes Sweep RailCats - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Flyers rally falls short - Schaumburg Flyers
- Redhawks Ground Flyers, 7-5 - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- JackHammers News & Notes - Joliet JackHammers
- RedHawks activate Salazar, Coffman - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
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