Ex-MLB all-star comes up clutch to help sink Fish

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This article was published 06/08/2018 (2657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A clutch hit by one of the greatest hitters in Major League Baseball history and a grand slam sunk the Winnipeg Goldeyes on Monday night at Shaw Park.

The Cleburne Railroaders, an expansion team, are in Winnipeg for the first time and they seem to be enjoying their stay so far, as they took down the Goldeyes 6-3 in Game 1 of a three-game series. Cleburne, the second-worst team in the league behind the Texas AirHogs, is now 24-50 on the year, while the Fish fell to 33-42 with the loss.

Cleburne took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, when 53-year-old Rafael Palmeiro, a four-time MLB all-star, three-time Gold Glove winner and one of only six players to have more than 500 home runs and 3,000 base hits, drilled a liner to centre field with the bases loaded to plate two runs.

Palmeiro, who played for the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers during his 20-year major league career, came out of retirement and signed with the Railroaders in the off-season with his 28-year old son, Patrick, who was out of the lineup on Monday. Palmeiro has played in less than half of Cleburne’s games, 30 in total, but is hitting an impressive .286, with six home runs, and 19 RBI despite being out of the game for more than a decade, as his last season in the majors was with Baltimore in 2005.

Palmeiro finished the game 1-for-3 with a walk, before being replaced in the eighth inning by a pinch runner. Goldeyes infielder Tucker Nathans, who hit a solo home run in the second inning, said he’s not surprised at all to see Palmeiro still swinging the bat well.

“I think at any age, he’d be able to hit at any level,” said Nathans, who has eight home runs and 18 RBIs on the year. “Hitters hit and he’s a hitter. He’s the purest hitter you can be and he’s proving it. I think it’s great and it’s really fun to watch him play.”

The Fish managed to tie the game in the third inning with first baseman Jordan Ebert scoring on a wild pitch, but Cleburne pulled away the next inning with a grand slam courtesy of Levi Scott, who leads the Railroaders with 12 home runs this season, to make it a 6-2 game.

The Goldeyes weren’t able to get back into the game, which has been a common occurrence this season, and they now sit 10 games out of a playoff spot with only 25 games left. Starting pitcher Alex Boshers, now 3-8 this year, took the loss after giving up six runs, two of them earned, on nine hits in six innings.

Despite being where they are in the standings, Nathans said, the Goldeyes are still going to bring it every night to close out the season.

“Things haven’t exactly gone our way, but everyone is here playing as hard as they can, whether we win or lose,” Nathans said. “Some nights, you don’t have enough, but we’re going to come out tomorrow and the rest of the season and play as hard as we can and see if we can try to make a run.”

The Goldeyes received a big blow to the lineup before Monday’s game, as reliable reliever Cameron McVey left the team to sign a contract with Union Laguna of the Mexican League. McVey appeared in 36 games for the Fish, where he had a 2.91 ERA and a 2-0 record.

Game 2 of the series resumes Tuesday night at Shaw Park at 7 p.m.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31