Fish blast past Dogs in home-opener

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This article was published 21/05/2024 (526 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A healthy Adam Hall is a weapon for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

In his first game back after missing a week with quad tightness, the 24-year-old went three-for-four with a walk and a home run as the designated hitter to spur the Goldeyes’ offence in a 6-1 win over the Chicago Dogs in Tuesday’s home opener at the downtown park.

“You see what he’s capable of tonight and you kind of really wish you could have had him through the stretch on the road there because we lost some close games and he could have been one of the guys that tipped us over the edge on a couple of those close games,” said manager Logan Watkins.

Hall, who has been tasked as the club’s leadoff hitter to start the year, continues to sizzle out of the gates with a .545 batting average through the first three contests of his career in Winnipeg.

“Being a Canadian guy, I’ve actually never got to play in front of a Canadian crowd,” said Hall, who spent the first six years of his career bouncing between affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles.

“Just the experience of that was pretty cool. I’ve been sidelined a little bit with a small injury and getting back and getting back at home is really home. The team played a great game and not much more you can ask for.”

The Fish improved to 4-7 on the young campaign while the Dogs dropped to 5-5.

The hosts got out to an early lead when Max Murphy drove in Hall and Dayson Croes on an RBI double in the first frame. The lead extended to 3-1 with Hall’s solo blast over the right field wall in the fifth inning, and Ryan Holgate added some late insurance with an RBI single in the eighth.

The Fish registered eight hits on the night and made life especially difficult for Dogs pitcher Jason Bilous, who was dinged for six hits and three earned runs in six innings of work.

Colton Eastman provided another solid performance for the Goldeyes in his third outing of the campaign, hurling 6 2/3 innings while striking out three batters, and conceding just three hits and one run.

After being dinged for six hits, three walks and three earned runs in the club’s season debut against Cleburne, Eastman, who is operating as the Goldeyes’s ace, has looked the part in back-to-back outings.

“I could be wrong but I think the only runs he’s given up this year have been on home runs,” said Watkins. “The emphasis with him is some of their better hitters, keeping them in the park and making them string good at-bats against him because he definitely knows how to pitch.

“He was a little erratic early. I think he settled down after the first few innings today, but, yeah, three times he’s got the ball, he’s given us a chance to win all three times so that’s all you can really ask for.”

Nick Trogrlic-Iverson pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to seal the game for the hosts.

The Goldeyes were happy to end with a comfortable victory after being on the wrong end of some heartbreaking nail-biters on their season-opening road 10-game road trip. Five of the club’s seven losses have come by a margin of two runs or less.

There’s something to be said for teams that can win close games, however, and the Goldeyes found a way to pull away after most of this one was a tight affair.

“Just give credit to our pitching for getting out of a couple of tough innings and then our offence, just kind of kept putting pressure on them every inning,” Watkins said. “It was a good win tonight.”

The Goldeyes and Dogs will play the second of a three-game series on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.) Zac Reininger will start for the Fish.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam