Goldeyes celebrate in style

As Canada Day celebrations were underway in downtown Winnipeg on a hot Tuesday afternoon, 5,518 people flocked to Blue Cross Park to watch some Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball. The Fish made sure the crowd could also celebrate baseball-wise.

It’s the first time the Goldeyes have played on Canada Day since 2019, and they did not disappoint, taking Game 1 of a series against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks with a well-rounded 8-5 win.

The Goldeyes have floated around the bottom of the American Association’s West Division all season so far, but seem to be turning things around, now 7-3 in their last ten outings and reaching the .500 mark with the win.

“The biggest thing is we just got a win over a team in our division,” said Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins. “Like I said, it’s early in the year, but these wins will probably all matter late.”

First up to bat for the Goldeyes was centre-fielder Jacob Robson, getting things going with a double and stealing third base, before being brought home by a Roby Enríquez double. Enríquez then scored a run of his own off of Matthew Warkentin’s double, giving the Fish an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

“It feels good to get a win on Canada Day,“ said Robson, one of seven Canadian players on the team. “It was a really special day. I think for me personally, I hadn’t played on Canada Day in Canada in years… So it was really good. Great turnout from fans. We have such good fans anyway, but it was even more special today.”

Robson continued to come on strong in the bottom of the second, blasting a two-run home run far over the right-field fence as the RedHawks could only stand and watch as the Fish extended their lead to 4-0.

Max Murphy added a run in the third to add to their total, as the Fish continued to put up a strong display of defence, which lasted throughout the game.

In the fourth, it was none other than Robson, who seemed to be unstoppable Tuesday, adding his second home run of the game over right field again to give his squad a 6-0 lead.

“I was really in the gutter there for a while at the beginning of the year,” said Robson. “But the season is so long, and sometimes it just comes and goes and ebbs and flows. I think that you’ve got to just keep grinding when it’s not going well, figure out if there’s a problem, and try and fix it.”

The Goldeyes signed Robson in April this year, a former big leaguer who played for the Detroit Tigers in 2021.

“It’s been a huge deal that Jacob Robson has got hot for us,” said Watkins. “If we’re gonna be any good, he’s gotta be a huge part of it. So him leading off the game with the double, I mean, I think hitting is contagious and we kind of just fall in line right behind that.”

The RedHawks finally got on the board in the top of the sixth, making it 6-2 with runs by Juan Fernández and Dillon Thomas, and cut the Goldeye’s lead in half in the seventh with a home run by Alec Olund.

The Fish added two runs in the eighth in response, and despite a late comeback attempt — with a Jose Sermo home run making it 8-5 — the Fish held on for the win.

Left-handed pitcher Mitchell Lambson started for the Goldeyes, pitching his second complete game in a row and third of the season, allowing five runs, seven hits and striking out one across the nine innings.

The Goldeyes will look to keep momentum going in game two of the series on Wednesday. Game time is 6:30 p.m.

“It’s really all about the energy, and the energy is going good for us now,” said Robson. “So we want to just keep the pedal to the medal.”

The Fish will continue against the RedHawks into the weekend, playing their second series in a row against the squad at Newman Outdoor Field in North Dakota.

“We got to win this series,” said Watkins. “But it’s still one of those deals where we need to get hot. We need to win five, six, seven games in a row, and not just two.”

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca