Goldeyes come out swinging

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This article was published 08/05/2019 (2655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball is back — to a certain extent.

The Fish kicked off their seven-game pre-season on Wednesday night at Shaw Park with a tilt against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. The Goldeyes came out with a 5-4 win, not that they really care, nor does anyone else as it won’t count in the standings.

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said the first few exhibition games are just a way to get players as many reps as possible. But towards the end of the pre-season, he hopes his team can ramp it up a bit to show they’re ready for meaningful baseball.

“Everybody likes to say it’s a long season. We play 100 games. But Game 1 is just as important as Game 100,” said Forney after the game.

“Cause when you’re coming down to Game 90, 95, 97 and trying to figure out where you are in the standings, there are no do-overs. You can’t get Game 1 back. So the last couple exhibition games have a little bit of importance as you want to make sure you’re ready for Game 1.”

The temperate dropped to a cool 6 C on the night. You could’ve done a head count of how many of the announced attendance of 2,691 stuck around for the full nine innings of the game (which lasted nearly four hours).

But the game did serve a purpose, as it gave the Goldeyes an opportunity to see some of their new faces (and old) in game action for the first time this spring.

In fact, some of the off-season acquisitions looked right at home in their Goldeyes debut. Outfielder James Harris, the most valuable player of the Frontier League last season, went 2-for-2 at the plate, including a double and an RBI. First baseman Dominic Ficociello made up for a fielding error early in the game by plating two runs in the fifth inning on a single and walked twice.

Shortstop Alex Perez had two hits, an RBI and a walk. And to round out the list of newcomers with solid starts to the year, outfielder Willy Garcia, who’s last at-bat came with the MLB’s Chicago White Sox at the end of the 2017 season, hit a double and walked three times in his four trips to the plate.

Fargo-Moorhead’s pitchers were pretty generous to the Goldeyes all night, walking 10 batters.

“I thought it was a good day not just for them but for everybody,” said Forney about his players, new and returning.

“You don’t expect much offence the first three or four exhibition games. Nobody really has any timing. But I think everybody’s swing quality got better as the game went along, which is what you’d like to see.”

The Goldeyes also had a strong showing from their pitching staff — until the eighth inning. Last year’s ace, Mitch Lambson, got the start for the Fish. He threw four scoreless innings and gave up two hits.

Lambson was replaced by reliever Dylan Thompson, one of the most notable arms acquired by the Goldeyes in the off-season, in the fifth inning. Thompson, an American Association all-star in 2017 with the Sioux Falls Canaries, struck out five of the six batters he faced and picked up the win.

“Pitchers are going to be ahead of the hitter. All you have to do is throw it over the plate and you’re going to beat hitters at this point. But Dylan’s a good arm. He was good in Sioux Falls the last couple years. I personally picked him to make the all-star team two years ago. He’s a talented kid.”

One new Goldeye who failed to make a strong first impression was pitcher Kevin McAvoy, who almost blew the game in the eighth inning. McAvoy, who had an 0-2 record with an 8.64 ERA last season with the Boston Red Sox’s double-A affiliate, surrendered four hits and three runs.

McAvoy struck out one batter before he was replaced by Brandon Bingel, who finished off the inning without giving up the lead. McAvoy is vying for a spot in the starting rotation and his performance was not encouraging.

Mitchell Aker, also new to the team and fighting for a spot in the bullpen, looked a little shaky as well. He walked two batters and gave up a run in the ninth inning but hung on to record the save.

The Goldeyes and RedHawks will play another exhibition game at 6:05 p.m. tonight at Shaw Park before the Fish hit the road for their final five pre-season games.

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31