Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
RedHawks provide nightmarish night of baseball for Goldeyes
The Winnipeg Goldeyes had a disastrous night at Canwest Park Thursday night, losing both ends of a doubleheader to the Fargo RedHawks to fall even further behind in their pursuit of a playoff spot.
The two losses -- 14-9 in extra innings in the first game and 8-3 in the second game -- coupled with a 4-2 victory by the fourth-place Joliet Jackhammers over the Schaumburg Flyers means Winnipeg heads into Friday four games out of the fourth and final playoff spot.
With just 10 games left in the season, that means the Goldeyes magic number is now just 7 -- meaning any combination of Goldeyes losses and Joliet wins equalling 7 will eliminate the Fish from the playoffs.
The Goldeyes have only missed the playoffs twice before in franchise history -- in 2004 and 2005 -- and are on a skid that is beginning to appear irreversible. The Goldeyes have now lost five of their last six games, including four of five on the current nine-game homestand.
"Oh man, it was a tough one. It was a battle," Fish outfielder Justin Justice said in the wee hours of Friday morning. "It’s just baseball I guess. It was a rough one.
"Nine innings, a full game, a tough loss and then you have to go out and play another seven. We just have to go out there (today). It’s another game."
The cruel irony is it all began so promisingly Thursday evening. The Goldeyes jumped out to an 8-2 lead after just the third inning of Game 1 and led 9-4 as late as the fifth inning of the seven-inning contest.
But a pair of Goldeyes relievers -- newcomer Emary Frederick and former big-league closer Bobby Korecky -- gave up five runs in the final two innings respectively to send the game to extra innings tied 9-9.
Tempers frayed from there as Fish manager Rick Forney and first base coach Rudy Arias were both ejected in the eighth inning by home plate umpire Reggie Jackson, whose bewildering strike zone all night long earned him the ire of both clubs and the 7,148 spectators.
A five-run Fargo outburst in the ninth inning -- four of the runs coming off Goldeyes reliever Chad Benefield -- completed the remarkable turnaround, which took a marathon 3 hours and 43 minutes to complete.
Against that devestating backdrop, it would have been surprising if the Goldeyes did anything in Game 2 other than exactly what they did -- turn in a listless and uninspired effort .
The final out of a nightmarish night of baseball came at 12:46 a.m..
The Fish and Fargo play the third game of this six-game final home series tonight at Canwest Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m..
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