Fish open with a bang at home

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (3682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was the first time most of the Goldeyes met their fans, and they wanted to make sure the crowd left with a winning impression.

To do that, they had to be a little tenacious. They needed determined hitting to build a narrow lead and the bullpen had to be great. They did; it was; and when the Shaw Park home opener was done, the Winnipeg Goldeyes had beaten the Sioux Falls Canaries 3-2.

With that, the Fish rose to 7-4 on the season. On the other side, the Canaries’ record fell to 5-6, and their dismal losing skid stretched to six games. They still have three more to play at Shaw Park before moving on.

Oh, but what a fun show. The warm night turned blustery towards the end, but that didn’t blow away the spirit of 7,076 fans. It was an increase of about 300 over 2015’s home-opener attendance, an effect perhaps of the fine weather — or maybe it’s just this revamped Fish roster has buzz.

True, they didn’t quite show fans all their best stuff. For instance, outfielder David Rohm is one of the hottest hitters in the American Association right now, and had snapped a base hit in each of the first 10 games of the season. That streak came to an end Monday, when he went 0-for-1 with an RBI sac fly.

No sweat, there’s other weapons. These Goldeyes batters believe their group isn’t at the top of its game yet, but that it could be dangerous. There were plenty of flashes of that potential Monday night, starting in the bottom of the first inning.

Outfielder Adam Heisler and shortstop Maikol Gonzalez kicked things off by singling their way on base in succession. Their efforts were erased when Josh Romanski earned the dubious distinction of hitting into a rare triple-play.

Romanski would redeem himself in the fourth inning, when he led off with a solo blast over the right-field fence. It was his first home run of the season and it gave the home team a 2-1 lead. The Goldeyes extended the lead in the fifth, thanks to third baseman Wes Darvill, who walloped a triple to dead centre-field that dropped in time to elude Canaries outfielder Ethan Chapman. Heisler promptly drove Darvill home.

Sioux Falls clawed its way back with a run in the sixth. But their hopes at a turnaround were squelched by standout Fish relief pitching. Brandon Shimo struck out two in the seventh inning; fellow righty Cameron McVey did the same in the eighth. But even those fine efforts were just a warm-up act for closer Jailen Peguero, who came out in the ninth and hurled missiles to pound out three straight Ks.

The Goldeyes cracked the scoreboard in the second inning, thanks to Reggie Abercrombie. The outfielder singled, then stole second and advanced to third to set himself up to score on Rohm’s sacrifice fly. Meanwhile, starter Mikey O’Brien pitched 5 2/3 innings, during which he struck out six and gave up four hits, two earned runs and one walk.

Honourable mentions

In his Fish debut last season, Heisler was a rock on both offence and in the outfield, though his polished and consistent play didn’t always attract the same attention as a flashier player such as, oh, Josh Mazzola. Rest assured, that will be changing this year.

Consider his performance Monday night. Heisler — or, as a couple of fans dubbed him, “Heis, Heis Baby” — snapped the Goldeyes’ first hit of the game, as the leadoff hitter in the first inning. In the bottom of the third, he strolled up perfectly prepared to deliver a two-out RBI single, and did it. He finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, and now holds a .439 average.

Plus, the outfielder had a sweet moment after the fourth inning, when he was surprised on the field by his girlfriend Payton. Apparently, he didn’t know she was in the crowd, so that was a Goldeyes’ game-day surprise. The couple then went head-to-head in a trivia game; Payton won.

Other Goldeyes standouts Monday: in the fourth, second baseman Casio Grider flung himself to the ground to make a brave third-out snag. In the seventh, reliever Shimo combined with first baseman Jacob Rogers to pick off Canaries runner Frank Martinez — then Shimo turned around and finished what he had started, striking out catcher Cameron Garfield. Pretty sweet outing.

Up next

The Goldeyes play three more against Sioux Falls, including an 11 a.m. Thursday game. Then the Lincoln Saltdogs come to town on Friday for a three-game series. That weekend meeting will mark the return of longtime former Goldeyes catcher Luis Alen, who was traded to Lincoln in the off-season.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca