Alen hits first Fish dinger of 2012

AMARILLO, Texas -- Goldeyes' catcher Luis Alen has gotten a promotion.

Alen was moved to fifth in the batting order in the first two American Association regular-season games, from seventh in the pre-season.

He showed his appreciation by hitting a three-run, sixth-inning homer Friday that rallied the team and sparked a comeback.

Alen's shot to left field, Winnipeg's first dinger of 2012, scored Jon Weber and Yurendell de Caster.

"Wherever he needs me to hit, I'm going to be there," said Alen, who hit an RBI double Saturday.

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Goldeyes manager Rick Forney set his batting order in the pre-season and has stuck with the top of the order with Chris Roberson, Price Kendall, Weber and de Caster through two games.

Kendall was Winnipeg's lead-off hitter for most of the 2011 campaign but is batting second so far this season. He led the team with three runs scored Friday and went 1-5 with an RBI on Saturday.

"Price is a high on-base (percentage) hitter but one of the great things about Price is he's a great two-strike hitter, especially with men in scoring position," Forney said. "Hitting behind a guy like Roberson, hopefully he'll have an opportunity to drive some runs in as well as get on base and score."

Roberson played 85 games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006 and 2007. Weber led the Goldeyes in the pre-season with a .400 batting average.

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Forney himself pitched in Sox Stadium back in 1996 when he was with Lubbock in the Texas-Louisiana League, so he came into this three-game set in Amarillo expecting high winds and high scores like Friday's 14-9 comeback win.

"You certainly don't think you're out of the game in the fourth inning, especially in a park like this, but I was proud of the guys (Friday). When you're losing 8-1 that early, sometimes it's easy to mail it in, but those guys gave us quality, professional at-bats."

-- Prest

-- Ashley Prest

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 20, 2012 B5