Goldeyes stopped in tracks by Railroaders

The Winnipeg Goldeyes are battling a stubborn opponent this week — and Mother Nature has come in swinging a hot bat.

Torrential rains, high winds and frequent lightning wiped out Tuesday’s start of a three-game series against the Cleburne Railroaders and the wicked weather was again a factor during Wednesday’s drawn-out doubleheader at Blue Cross Park.

When they were finally able to squeeze in some baseball — storms triggered a 69-minute delay just as the sixth inning of Game 1 was getting underway — things didn’t exactly go swimmingly for the Fish.

A promising early 4-1 lead ended in a frustrating 8-5 loss which took a gruelling three-and-a-half hours to complete despite consisting of just seven innings.

Game 2 got underway just after 9:30 p.m. and had a better result for the home team – a tidy 2-1 victory, with the final out being recorded at 11:49 p.m.

The Goldeyes began the long night with a 10-12 record and a chance to finally claw back to .500 against a reeling Railroaders squad that limped into town at 8-14. But nothing is coming easy these days for Winnipeg, which can’t seem to build any sustained momentum as they approach the quarter-pole of the 100-game American Association season.

Wednesday’s split leaves the Goldeyes at 11-13, while the Railroads are now 9-15.

Veteran Goldeyes hitter Max Murphy did most of the damage at the plate in the opener, slugging a bases-loaded double that cashed in three runs in the third inning to add to his franchise all-time RBI record. Second baseman Keshawn Lynch then brought him home with a double of his own, and it looked like the home team was in cruise control.

Not so fast. Just like the skies above, things went off the rails as starting pitcher Arij Fransen was roughed up during his second and third time through the order.

Cleburne scored twice in the fourth inning, then added five in the fifth with the big blow coming off the bat of third baseman Caleb McNeely in the form of a two-out grand slam that came just as the latest thunderstorm rolled in.

The Goldeyes tried to rally late — Lynch tripled and eventually scored to start the sixth — and even brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out in the seventh after a pair of leadoff singles.

Former Winnipeg pitcher Ryder Yakel put out the fire, getting the final two outs for the save.

In the nightcap, Ramon Bramasco plated both runs with a based-loaded single in the third inning. Starter Tasker Strobel went three scoreless frames, while relievers Dominic Hambley, Quinn Waterhouse and Derrick Cherry took care of business in the final four innings. Cherry gave up the lone run of the night in the top of the seventh but escaped without further damage to record the save, his fifth of the year.

Winnipeg will wrap up the series with Cleburne, along with its season-long 10-game homestand, on Thursday evening. Surprise, surprise — more rain is in the forecast.

FISH WRAP:

Long-time Canadian baseball fans may recognize a familiar name on the Cleburne roster.

That would be Delino DeShields, who is the son of the former Montreal Expos second baseman by the same name. While the elder DeShields had a 13-year MLB career, junior spent seven years in The Show and is now in his second stint with Cleburne at the age of 33.

The Railroaders have another Expos connection, as former first-round draft pick Pete Incaviglia is their manager. He was traded by Montreal without playing a single game for the organization and ultimately had a 12-year MLB career with six different organization.

Speaking of Canadian baseball, Winnipeg has added another north-of-the-border talent to its lineup. Hambley was obtained from the Kansas City Monarchs this week in exchange for future considerations.

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The 23-year-old rookie pitcher from Victoria joins fellow pitchers Jack Seward (New Westminster, B.C.), Eli Saul (Vancouver) and James Bradwell (Vancouver) along with position players Raphael Pelletier (Sainte-Agathe-Des-Monts, PQ), T.J. Schofield-Sam (Mississauga, Ont), Adam Hall (Lucan, Ont.) on the roster.

The Goldeyes have three other players — hitters Murphy and Kevin Garcia and pitcher Mitch Lambson — who are originally from the United States but now reside in Winnipeg year-round.

The Goldeyes have been enjoying an extended dose of home cooking, but a handful of players hit the road late last week for a quick trip to Churchill.

Pitchers Willian Suarez and Luke Boyd conducted a day-long clinic in the remote northern Manitoba community as part of a Baseball Manitoba initiative.

No polar bears stepped up to the plate.

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.