Fish, Fargo renew playoff rivalry Wednesday

IF it's September, it must be Fargo.

For the ninth time in 13 years, the Winnipeg Goldeyes will play the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in the Northern League playoffs.

On Sunday, the Fish clinched second place in the Northern League regular-season standings and a playoff date with the third-place RedHawks, beginning this Wednesday in Fargo.

The Goldeyes backed their way into second place, clinching despite a 3-2 loss to the Schaumburg Flyers at Canwest Park Sunday afternoon.

While Winnipeg was losing to Schaumburg, the Gary SouthShore RailCats were winning, dropping Fargo 6-3 in Gary. Gary clinched the regular-season title with the win over Fargo. The Fargo loss meant the RedHawks will finish the regular season in third place, while Winnipeg finishes second.

Gary will now play the fourth-place Kansas City T-Bones in the opening round of the playoffs. That series opens in Kansas City on Wednesday before shifting to Gary for the final three games, beginning Friday.

The Goldeyes will play in Fargo Wednesday and Thursday before returning home for Game 3 on Friday. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, will also be at Canwest Park Saturday and Sunday.

"I think we'll be ready," said Goldeyes shortstop Adam Frost. "Our bats are going to get hot, I'm not worried about that."

The Fish bats were anything but hot Sunday afternoon, as the vaunted Goldeyes offence mustered just six hits and the Fish bullpen -- yet again -- squandered some solid starting pitching from Andrew Cruse, who gave up just four hits and a run through six innings.

The Goldeyes carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth, but came apart when closer Chris Homer was struck in the back when Winnipeg catcher Brent Metheny tried to nail a Schaumburg runner stealing second and struck his pitcher with the ball instead.

Homer left the game with soreness and reliever Mark Michael couldn't get the job done, giving up the tying and winning runs in rapid succession.

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said Homer should be fine for the playoffs, but he wondered about his offence.

"We've got to get the bats going out there," Forney said.

The Goldeyes will also have to overcome their recent playoff history against the RedHawks if they're going to advance to next week's Northern League Championship Series.

The last time the Goldeyes beat Fargo in a playoff series was in 2001.Since then, it's been all Fargo. Overall, Fargo holds a 5-3 edge in playoff series between the two teams.

More recently, the two teams have been perfectly matched. The Fish have a 9-9 regular-season record against Fargo this season and are 22-22 in the regular season against Fargo over the last two seasons combined.

Frost, playing in his rookie season in Winnipeg, said he's aware of the long rivalry between Fargo and Winnipeg but doesn't know much about it.

"I know we get a lot of their fans up here and our fans go down there for games because the two cities are so close," Frost said, "but that's about all I know."

The Goldeyes wrap up the regular season at home tonight in a meaningless game against the Flyers.

FISHLINES -- Goldeyes DH Juan Diaz was named the club's 2009 MVP on Sunday... Bear Bay will start Game 1 on Wednesday.

paul.wiecek@freepress..mb.ca

Playoff schedule

Game 1 -- Winnipeg at Fargo-Moorhead, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Game 2 -- Winnipeg at Fargo-Moorhead, Thursday, 7 p.m.

Game 3 -- Fargo-Moorhead at Winnipeg, Friday, 7 p.m.

Game 4 -- Fargo-Moorhead at Winnipeg, Saturday, 6 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 5 -- Fargo-Moorhead at Winnipeg, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 31, 2009 C1