Goldeyes smoked in home opener

The Winnipeg Goldeyes — not unlike the spring weather around here — apparently need a little more time to warm up.

A season-opening skid continued Tuesday night as the frigid Fish flopped in their 2026 home debut, falling 14-2 to the Kane County Cougars.

Winnipeg is now 0-4 to begin the 100-game campaign and has been outscored 35-8 in the process.

This latest lopsided loss was especially disappointing considering the Goldeyes got drubbed in front of a terrific crowd of 6,956 fans who braved bone-chilling temperatures hoping to root, root, root for the home team, only to be treated to some Bad News Bears baseball instead.

Hopefully the peanuts and Cracker Jacks were tasty. Thankfully, the post-game fireworks didn’t disappoint for those who stuck it out until the bitter end.

“We have the best fans in the league by far, and their support doesn’t go unnoticed by us. It’s our job to play good baseball. Obviously this isn’t what we wanted to have for our home opener,” Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins told the Free Press in his clubhouse office following the game.

How bad was this performance? Let us count the ways.

Winnipeg’s erratic pitchers nearly hit as many batters — four, including Kane County second baseman Josh Allen three times — as Winnipeg’s slumping hitters recorded base hits (five).

Cougars first baseman Alex McGarry almost matched the entire Goldeyes team at the plate, collecting three singles and a double, while third baseman Claudio Finol drove in seven runs — one short of Winnipeg’s collective offensive output through four games — with a double and two home runs.

Yeah, it was ugly.

The most concerning part for the Goldeyes? It’s not like you can just point to one problematic player or issue right now.

From a popgun offence and poor defence (three more errors on Tuesday) to shoddy starting pitching and struggling relievers, this is not the start Watkins envisioned.

“I feel like we have plenty of talent in here. Sometimes, when you get off to a bit of a slow start, I’m sure some guys are pressing a little bit and starting to feel the pressure to get going,” said Watkins.

“We’ll definitely bounce back. Just kind of the way it goes. We’ll get these guys going and give the fans plenty to be happy about.”

Left fielder Roby Enriquez is the only hitter not in an early funk. His fifth-inning single gave him seven hits on the year, with Winnipeg’s other 10 position players combining for just 17. Goldeyes batters had gone 13 up, 13 down against Cougars righty Vin Timpanelli before Enriquez finally put a dent in his armour.

Both of Winnipeg’s runs came off the bat of designated hitter Jiandido Tromp, who leads the team with four RBI despite only having one hit in 10 at-bats. Two sacrifice flies in Milwaukee were followed by a fielder’s choice and a run-scoring single against Kane County.

“We just haven’t hit the ball yet. We have guys that are proven in this league that will hit the ball. And they just haven’t yet,” said Watkins. “When you’re only scoring two runs a game, we gotta get going. Gotta get ’em swinging.”

Goldeyes starter Luke Boyd was roughed up for five earned runs off seven hits in four and two-thirds innings. Relivers Ryo Kohigashi (three runs in one and one-third innings), Eli Saul (five runs in two-thirds of an inning) and Quinn Waterhouse (one run in two and one-third innings) had their issues as well.

One bright spot for Winnipeg occurred in the eighth inning as rookie catcher Raphael Pelletier, a 24-year-old from Quebec who recently finished up his collegiate baseball career, recorded his first professional hit, a sharp single to right field.

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Winnipeg went 41-58 last year — matching the fewest wins in franchise history during a 100-game campaign, although one game was rained out and never rescheduled — and were looking for a rebound from a roster that includes 13 returning players and 13 new additions.

So far, so not-very-good.

Kane County, who have two straight American Association championships, are now 3-1 on the year. The Goldeyes will again try to get in the win column when they host the Cougars on Wednesday night for game two of their three-game set. Opening night starter Landen Bourassa will be on the mound for Winnipeg, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.

“Hopefully we can get one little spark, and maybe that will light a fire,” said Watkins.

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Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.