Suicide Squeeze Snaps Goldeyes' Skid
July 27, 2012 - American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
The Winnipeg Goldeyes played small ball on Friday night to bust out of a losing skid.
Price Kendall laid down a perfectly executed squeeze bunt that easily scored Amos Ramon from third base with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Goldeyes a 2-1 victory over the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants in the first game of a three-game series at Shaw Park.
The Goldeyes, who had lost three straight to the Quebec Capitals earlier this week, had been struggling to score in recent games and they struggled on Friday night as well, but in the ninth, the Fish scraped across the winning run.
As 5,325 fans screamed with delight, Ramon doubled with one out, went to third on a single by Jose Duran and scored on Kendall's perfect bunt to the right side of the infield.
"I just thought it was the perfect time to do it," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. "They (Sioux Falls) had just had a mound meeting and all they were talking about was how we were going to turn the double play to get out of the inning. They weren't thinking about a bunt. I just needed somebody to put the ball on the ground and, while we were fortunate it was a guy like Price who handles the bat so well, it really didn't matter who it was, we were going to do it."
Matt Rusch of the Goldeyes and Mark Michael of the Pheasants both had excellent starts. Rusch allowed one unearned run on three hits over six complete innings, while Michael gave up an earned run on six hits through seven complete. But once again Brian Beuning came out of the bullpen, pitched three flawless innings and the Fish came up with the big play in the ninth.
"This feels great," said Ramon, who added that it was the first time this year that the Goldeyes had employed the suicide squeeze. "We needed that as a team. We scrambled to win that one. We needed to overcome the adversity. We were frustrated against Quebec. A win like that should give us some confidence."
With the win, the Goldeyes halted a five-game home losing streak and improved to 38-27 on the season. The Goldeyes remain in second place in the American Association's North Division.
Sioux Falls opened the scoring in the top of the second inning as Al Quintana singled home Jake Taylor, but the Goldeyes answered in the bottom of the second as Luis Alen singled, went to third on a double by Kyle Day and scored on a ground out by Josh Mazzola.
That set up the dramatic victory by the Goldeyes in the bottom of the ninth.
Beuning (4-0, 0.68 ERA) got the win for the Goldeyes, while reliever Dusty Gober (0-2, 5.68 ERA) suffered the loss for the Pheasants.
The same two teams will meet in Game 2 of this three-game series on Saturday night at 6 p.m. The game can be heard live on TSN 1290 with Paul Edmonds calling the play-by-play. It can also be seen live on Shaw TV with Scott Taylor, Shawn Coates and Mitchell Clinton on Shaw TV Channel 9 in Winnipeg and Channel 11 in Thompson, Flin Flon and The Pas.
Great seats for all Goldeyes games are available by clicking on Ticketmaster.ca, calling 1-855-GOLDEYE or visiting any Ticketmaster.ca, including the Shaw Park box office.
• Discuss this story on the American Association message board...
American Association Stories from July 27, 2012
- Lemurs Win Fifth Straight - Laredo Lemurs
- Explorers shut out Lincoln 1-0 - Sioux City Explorers
- Suicide Squeeze Snaps Goldeyes' Skid - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Gold Medal Worthy Performance by Saints with 4-3 Walk-Off Win in 11 - St. Paul Saints
- Winnipeg Squeezes Past Pheasants - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Lemurs Win Tight Game over Wingnuts - Wichita Wingnuts
- T-Bones Rally for Six Early and Beat Grand Prairie - Kansas City Monarchs
- RedHawks Rout 'Cats in Opener - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Big Inning Costs AirHogs Yet Again - Grand Prairie AirHogs
- Salazar Outguns Mackey in Tremendous Pitcher's Duel - Lincoln Saltdogs
- July 27-Aug 2 Promotions Announced - El Paso Diablos
- Saints Outfielder, Former Major Leaguer, Shane Costa Retires - St. Paul Saints
- Fans to Vote for Top Skipper in Team History - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Sox prepare for big week of games, including Inflatamaniacs - Amarillo ThunderHeads
- Gary SouthShore defeats Explorers 5-2 - Sioux City Explorers
- Hiscock, 'Cats Take Series in 5-2 Win - Gary SouthShore Railcats
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
