Goldeyes hurler back on track

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This article was published 04/06/2019 (2350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Goldeyes starting pitcher Harrison Cooney needed a strong bounce-back performance on Tuesday afternoon.

In his last start on May 30 versus the Gary SouthShore RailCats, the first-year Goldeye was shellacked for five earned runs in less than two innings of work before manager Rick Forney had seen enough. The loss raised Cooney’s ERA to 6.00 this American Association season.

But on Tuesday, Cooney had an opportunity to get back on track as he was on the mound starting for the Fish at Shaw Park against the Sioux City Explorers in the second game of a four-game series.

He was a little shaky to start, walking the first batter of the game and then giving up a single. But Cooney battled back to record three straight outs to strand runners on second and third. The 27-year-old from Vero Beach, Fla., settled in from there and pitched six solid innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out four to help the Goldeyes to a 5-4 win.

The Goldeyes improved to 12-6 on the year while Sioux City dropped to 6-12.

“My last start was kind of the same thing. I kind of struggled early on attacking the zone,” said Cooney, who improved to 2-1 on the year.

“But this time around, I just tried to make pitches, try to get one guy out at a time and not kind of let stuff snowball like it did the last outing.”

Cooney, who spent the past two seasons in the Boston Red Sox minor-league system as a reliever, said he knew coming into Tuesday’s game that he had to be better than he was against Gary.

“I mean, having the bullpen throw that many innings is never good,” Cooney said.

“So, I wanted to get as deep as I could to give the team a chance to win, so it was good.”

The Goldeyes didn’t have to go deep into their bullpen on Tuesday, but their relievers still almost blew the game. The Fish plated two insurance runs in the eighth inning, and it’s a good thing they did as closer Victor Capellan nearly coughed up a 5-2 lead in the ninth.

Capellan gave up a two-run homer to Sioux City catcher Dylan Kelly — who entered the game with a .104 batting average and zero home runs — to make it a 5-4 game with two outs.

The closer then gave up a single and a walk, before striking out Nate Samson to end the game and pick up his seventh save of the season.

Goldeyes third baseman Wes Darvill scored three runs on the afternoon, including a solo homer in the second inning, and veteran outfielder Reggie Abercrombie drove in a pair of runs on two hits.

The Goldeyes will take on the Explorers in Game 3 today at Shaw Park with first pitch set for 7 p.m.

The Fish won 7-6 in 10 innings in the series opener on Monday.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31