Sally and Reggie Become Friday Night Heroes
May 30, 2014 - American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
Reggie Abercrombie saw a hanging slider, got the barrel of the bat on the baseball and then raised his finger to the sky. The Winnipeg Goldeyes (10-5) veteran slugger had delivered a monster two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Fish a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the visiting Lincoln Saltdogs (6-9).
"He kind of got a slider up and I got the barrel on it," said Abercrombie after the game. "He's a good pitcher, but he made a mistake. You don't plan on this kind of thing happening, but when it happens, it's sort of the reason you play baseball. Whenever you can do something like that for your team, it's one of the things you try to enjoy."
Not only did Abercrombie enjoy it, so too did his teammates, who met him at homeplate after he followed Donnie Webb across the plate. Webb had singled with one out in the bottom, of the ninth to set up Abercrombie's heroics. It was a fitting ending to a brilliant pitching performance by veteran Goldeyes left-hander Chris Salamida, a performance that was almost lost. He threw eight innings of three-hit shutout baseball at Shaw Park, but the Goldeyes bullpen couldn't save his victory.
Chris Kissock and Brendan Lafferty allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in the top of the ninth, as the Goldeyes blew a 3-0 eighth-inning lead and fell behind 4-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth. It's the first time this season the Goldeyes' bullpen blew a save.
"After Chris (Kissock) came out of the game, I batted him on the back," said Salamida. "He'll be back tomorrow and he'll be great. It's just one of those things. He'll be back, better than ever next time."
But that's when Reggie came on and hit his second homer in as many nights. Amazingly, the Goldeyes are now 8-2 this season in games in which they've hit home runs.
With the win, the Goldeyes took over sole possession of first place in the American Association's North Division for the first time this season.
"I felt really good tonight," said Salamida. "After that bad start to the season, I made a few adjustments to my mechanics and slowed down my delivery. When you pitch too quickly, it affects other parts of the delivery and that's what contributed to the slow start. Tonight, I just tried to throw strikes and get ahead of hitters. I had only three strikeouts, but I don't really try to get a lot of strikeouts. I try to pitch-to-contact and let my defense do its job and the defense was perfect tonight. I have a great defense behind me."
Salamida, who got off to a terrible start this season in his first two outings, pitched eight complete innings, allowing no runs on three hits and only one walk. He retired the first 11 batters he faced and had a one-hitter through six innings.
The Goldeyes didn't score much early in the game, but with Salamida dealing, they didn't have to score much. Tyler Kuhn led off the game with a single and scored all the way from first on a double by Jake Blackwood. In the fourth inning, Ray Sadler singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Donnie Webb. And with one out in the eighth inning, Kuhn pounded out his second triple in as many nights and scored on a sacrifice fly by Blackwood.
Bellamy (1-0, 6.35 ERA) got the win for Winnipeg, while Marshall Schuler suffered the loss (0-2, 2.35 ERA). The Goldeyes and Saltdogs will play Game 3 of this four-game series on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Shaw Park. Jason Jarvis (1-2, 10-39 ERA) will get the start for Winnipeg, while Joe Bisenius (0-0, 4.24 ERA) will take to the bump for Lincoln.
Tickets for all 2014 Winnipeg Goldeyes games are available through Ticketmaster by clicking on Goldeyes.com, calling 1-855-GOLDEYE or visiting any Ticketmaster location, including the Shaw Park box office.
American Association Stories from May 30, 2014
- RailCats Drop Tough One to Wingnuts - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- RedHawks Sink Explorers in Extras - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Rain Delay No Problem for 'Hawks as They Win 3rd Straight in 10 Innings - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Barone Helps Snap T-Bones' Slide - Kansas City Monarchs
- Four-run AirHogs' seventh dooms Sox - Amarillo ThunderHeads
- Testa Turns out the Lights on RailCats - Wichita Wingnuts
- Sally and Reggie Become Friday Night Heroes - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Abercrombie Answers 'Dogs Rally with Walk-Off Shot - Lincoln Saltdogs
- Imperfect Ending as Saints Lose 2-1 on Walk-Off Single in Ninth - St. Paul Saints
- T-Bones Promotions: June 2-8 - Kansas City Monarchs
- X's Lose in Montgomery's Return to Fargo - Sioux City Explorers
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
- Canaries Overwhelm T-Bones - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Wingnuts Leave Lemurs in the Dust, Sweep Series - Wichita Wingnuts
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