Time running out for Goldeyes

Max Murphy rounded third base thinking he was 90 feet away from forcing extra innings.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes outfielder was standing on first when second baseman Keshawn Lynch ripped a line drive down the left baseline with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately for the Fish, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks shortstop Aidan Byrne played the role of the cutoff man perfectly as he fired a strike to catcher Parker Stroh, who tagged Murphy in front of home plate.

The play preserved a 5-4 victory for the visiting RedHawks in front of 3,365 fans at Blue Cross Park on Monday night.

“Right off first, I was hauling… (The third base coach) was sending me the whole way, so I thought ‘I got this’, and then I could see the catcher getting ready to catch it and I was like ‘Ah, unless he clanks it, I’m out,’” said Murphy post-game.

“We’ve been playing a lot of bad baseball games lately, and today we played really well. And I mean, we had a chance there at the end, and if that relay goes a little different for them, if the throw is a little bit off, we tie the game up there and you never know what happens after that.”

To say the Goldeyes have been playing bad ball lately has been putting it mildly. They are now 2-12 in their last 14 outings which has put them in a 27-41 hole. The Goldeyes are 10 games back of their Red River rival for the fourth and final playoff spot in the American Association’s West Division.

The bottom half of the hourglass is beginning to fill as they have 32 games left to somehow climb in front of the 38-32 RedHawks. The two sides kicked off a three-game series on Monday and will also meet for one last trio of tilts against each other Aug. 26-28 in Fargo.

The Fish are 2-5 against the RedHawks in 2025.

“I think kind of playing like we’ve got nothing to lose will probably do us some good,” said Goldeyes centre-fielder Jacob Robson.

“I think we’ve been getting a little too tense in those big moments and kind of afraid to fail and that’s not a good recipe for success at all, take it from me, I’ve done it a lot. I’ve been afraid to fail, and it hasn’t worked out. So, yeah, we got to play like we got nothing to lose and sometimes it takes getting in the hole to get that mentality about you, so maybe that’s what we need, and I think that could work for us.”

The Goldeyes have now lost a league-leading 20 games by one run. Their longest winning streak this season is three games and that came in May.

“It’s been crazy. I don’t know if I’ve ever dealt with that many close losses in my career, and I’ve been on a lot of good teams and a lot of bad teams,” said Robson, a 10-year vet from London, Ont.

“Baseball is a strange game, no matter how long you play, new things seem to happen for you in your career. It’s a strange thing because you feel like you’re so close, but at the end of the day it’s still a loss. It’s been really tough, honestly. We’re doing our best to keep our spirits up and move forward.”

Fargo took command in the sixth when first baseman Brendon Dadson blasted a three-run homer to give the away dugout a 4-1 lead. Outfielder Alec Olund made it 5-1 in the seventh with an RBI single.

Winnipeg got back into it in the bottom of the seventh thanks to Robson drilling a three-run homer to right-centre to cut the deficit to 5-4.

RedHawks starter Orlando Rodriguez left in the first inning with an injury, but his bullpen managed to save the day with a strong showing.

Angelo Cabral (1-0) earned the win for Fargo by striking out five in 4.1 innings of work with one earned run on two hits. Fish starter Luke Boyd (2-8) took the loss after surrendering five earned runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings.

Outside of their two all-star hitters — Murphy and first baseman Matthew Warkentin — hitting has been an issue all summer as the Goldeyes rank 11th in the 12-team loop in runs scored (299) and hits (544).

Winnipeg had eight hits Monday — three off of Murphy’s bat — but left 10 runners on base, including three in the opening frame.

“We’ve just got to come in and be positive,” said Murphy.

“As hard as that can be when we’re losing, being negative doesn’t lead to wins. So, we have to come in every day and just try and play solid baseball and see what happens.”

The Goldeyes host the RedHawks again tonight at 6:30 p.m.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca