Blown save sees Goldeyes season slip away

THE Winnipeg Goldeyes feasted all year on home cooking.

But they came up empty when they needed it most, falling 6-5 to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on Friday night at Blue Cross Park to end their championship pursuit before it really got going.

The stunning way this must-win game turned is likely going to leave players and the nearly 5,200 fans in attendance with some lingering indigestion.

With a 5-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning, Winnipeg’s normally reliable closer, Derrick Cherry, was brought in with the idea of shutting things down, evening the best-of-three series 1-1 and forcing a winner-take-all showdown on Saturday night.

Simple, right? In theory, sure. In execution, not even close.

Cherry — one of the league leaders with 18 saves — struggled with his control at the worst possible time, hitting a batter, throwing a wild pitch and then walking another to put the tying run on base.

Things quickly went from bad to worse as he served up a meaty pitch which caught way too much of the plate and was taken over the left field wall by RedHawks outfielder Matt Kroon, who was no doubt licking his lips.

The lead was gone. And, a few moments later, the season was over.

Fargo-Moorhead now advances to the divisional final, facing the winner of the Kansas City/Sioux Falls series which is headed to a third and deciding game on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Goldeyes are left to wonder “what if” after a promising season — which included a 54-46 record, one win better than the RedHawks — ended with a short and not-so-sweet playoff run.

Winnipeg, which last won the championship in 2017, dropped Wednesday’s opener in North Dakota by a 5-1 score, immediately putting them on the brink.

But they had confidence they could get the job done at home, where they racked up 34 home wins during the regular-season to lead the American Association and match a franchise record. In the process, they also averaged nearly 4,000 fans per game, which is their highest since 2019.

The pursuit of a 35th victory was filled with plenty of twist and turns. The RedHawks raced out to an early 2-0 lead Friday, but the Goldeyes responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

An RBI groundout by outfielder Noah Marcelo, who was the club’s top run producer during the 100-game campaign, got them on the board. And that was followed by a two-run blast by first baseman Roby Enriquez to give them the first lead of the series.

It was short-lived.

Fargo-Moorhead tied it up in the top of the fifth in rather controversial fashion. Starting pitcher Kevin Vaupel found himself in a bases-loaded jam with one out, but induced what looked like a potential inning-end double play.

However, the first base umpire, crew chief Jeff Head, ruled the batter safe, meaning the run which crossed the plate counted and the game was tied.

Vaupel’s night ended after that frame, with rookie reliever Sage Ferguson coming on to toss three scoreless innings — the sixth, seventh and eighth — out of the bullpen.

Winnipeg jumped ahead in the bottom of the seventh, drawing three straight walks to load the bases followed by a fielder’s choice RBI by catcher Kevin Garcia.

It would have been great to add on, but Adam Hall hit into a double play to end any further threat.

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Shortstop Ray-Patrick Didder, who led the Goldeyes with 22 home runs in the regular-season, hit a solo shot in the bottom of the eight to give his team what seemed like some valuable insurance.

We now know how that turned out.

This was the 13th playoff meeting between Winnipeg and Fargo-Moorhead, which had taken seven of 12 regular season meetings this summer. The RedHawks have now won eight of those post-season matchups.

Over in the East, both divisional semifinals are headed to Game 3 — No. 1 Milwaukee vs No. 4 Cleburne, and No. 2 Lake Country vs No. 3 Kane County.

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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.