Fish look in fine form for fight with Fargo

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Goldeyes' Bear Bay works the mound in winning effort against Schaumburg Flyers earlier this season. (TREVOR.HAGAN@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

The Winnipeg Goldeyes and Fargo RedHawks hook up tonight in Fargo in the first game of their opening-round Northern League playoff series.

Game 2 also goes in Fargo on Thursday before the series heads north to Winnipeg for Game 3 on Friday. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, would be at Canwest Park Saturday and Sunday.

The winner will go on next week to face the winner of Gary-Kansas City in the Northern League championship series.

Here's how Free Press baseball writer Paul Wiecek breaks down the series:

Pitching

The Goldeyes have the best starting rotation in the league, and that can take you a long way in a short series.

The Fish staff leads the league in team ERA at 4.22, a full one-half run per game better than the numbers Fargo pitchers have put up.

The Goldeyes also have three pitchers in the league's top 10, including the No. 2 and No. 3 guys in Ace Walker and Bear Bay, respectively.

So deep are the Goldeyes in starting pitchers that Fish manager Rick Forney was musing as late as Monday about not going with Walker, a 12-game winner this year, until Game 4. Forney will give the ball to Bay in the first game and then veteran Bill Pulsipher in Game 2. Depending on those results, Forney said he might go with Andrew Cruse, who's also in the top 10 in pitching, in Game 3 back in Winnipeg.

"Unless we don't get it done in Fargo," Forney said. "I'm not saving a (12) game-winner (in Walker) for Game 4 if we're down 0-2."

Fargo probably has the better bullpen -- Winnipeg's has been shaky the past month and closer Chris Homer has a sore back -- but it won't matter much if the Goldeyes starters eat up a bunch of innings.

Big edge to Winnipeg

Hitting

Fargo third-baseman Jeremiah Piepkorn won the Northern League batting title this year and can do it all. He finished the season hitting .339, with 19 homers, drove in 73 runs, scored 74 himself and even stole eight bases.

And if you figure out the Piepkorn riddle, you still have to deal with Fargo outfielder Mike Coles, who finished second in hitting this year with a .328 average.

But Winnipeg can swing the lumber too. DH Juan Diaz led the league in home runs this year and finished second in RBI, while outfielder Dee Brown and third-baseman Vince Harrison finished tied for third in the league in hitting, with .322 batting averages.

Throw in some guys who can play small or long ball -- second-baseman Josh Asanovich, centre-fielder Cory Patton, even diminutive shortstop Adam Frost -- and you have a Goldeyes lineup that can hurt you from top to bottom.

Edge to Winnipeg

Defence

The Winnipeg infield of Vince Harrison at third, Josh Asanovich at second, Cody Ehlers at first and Mark Minicozzi (filling in for Adam Frost) turned a team-record five double plays in a win over Schaumburg Monday night on the last day of the regular season.

Overall, the Goldeyes committed 108 errors in 96 games this season, just one more than Fargo committed.

Fargo's catcher, Alan Rick, gets the nod over Brent Metheny behind the dish, particularly after a series that saw Schaumburg run almost at will on Metheny.

Slight edge to Fargo

Intangibles

Winnipeg gets the extra home game, but that only matters if you get to a Game 5... The Fish have a 5-4 record in Fargo this year, while Fargo has a 5-4 record in Winnipeg this year...Fargo has won five of the eight playoff series these two franchises have played, including the last two.

The Pick

I'm a big believer in starting pitching in the playoffs. I wonder a bit why Forney has elected to go with Bay in Game 1 instead of Walker, who's pitched six complete games this year and led the league in wins with 12. If I could choose any single pitcher on the Fish staff I'd want to start two games for me in a five-game series, it'd be Walker.

Still, in the end, this series will be won and lost on how quickly Fargo can get into Winnipeg's bullpen. If the Fish get quality starts, it could be over early. But if Fargo starts pounding on the meat that is the Goldeyes pen, this could be an early exit the other way.

I love what I've seen from Winnipeg's starters lately. Fish in 4.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 2, 2009 C4