Goldeyes need to pack offensive punch after 1-0 loss Sunday

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This article was published 15/09/2024 (413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the Winnipeg Goldeyes, it was a case of far too little and much too late.

And now the club’s championship hopes are hanging by a thread following heartbreaking one-run losses this weekend to the Kane County Cougars.

A 2-1 defeat on Saturday night in 11 innings was followed up with a 1-0 setback on Sunday afternoon.

The best-of-five series now shifts to Winnipeg for the duration, with the Goldeyes needing to win three straight elimination contests starting Tuesday evening. Games 4 and 5, if needed, would go Wednesday and Thursday at Blue Cross Park.

There’s no mystery what is suddenly ailing the West Division champions — they simply can’t find a way to get the offence going.

On Sunday, the Fish hadn’t recorded a single hit through eight innings and looked like they were going to be on the wrong end of one for the history books. But Nick Anderson’s leadoff single in the top of the ninth was followed by Ramon Bramasco’s bunt hit to put a pair of runners on with nobody out.

Might the Goldeyes have another late-game rally in store, just like they’d done on Saturday night in turning a 1-0 deficit into a 1-1 tie in the final frame?

No, they would not.

After 3B Dayson Croes laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out, Edwin Arroyo was hit by a pitch to load the bases. That ultimately ended up being a good thing, considering RF Miles Simington grounded into a double-play to put a dagger in the attempted comeback.

Simington’s weak grounder went right back to Cougars closer Tyler Beardsley — who had blown the save less than 24 hours earlier — and he threw home to get the second out, with catcher Simon Reid gunning Simington out at first base.

Winnipeg starter Landen Bourassa did everything you could have asked to give his club a shot. He went seven and-two-thirds innings, scattering eight hits and giving up just one run while striking out five and walking none.

Bourassa was brilliant in the regular-season against Kane County, twice tossing complete-game one-run victories. He nearly made it three in-a-row with this one, with reliever Nick Trogrlic-Iverson coming on to record the final out in the bottom of the eighth with a pair of Kane County runners on base.

The only blemish against Bourassa came in the fourth inning. LF Cornelius Randolph stroked a two-out single, stole second base and then was cashed in on a base hit from DH Todd Lott.

On Saturday, it was Randolph who drove in both runs — in the bottom of the first and the bottom of the 11th — after speedy Armand Upshaw got on first and stole second in both instances.

Winnipeg’s inability to contain the running game, which included another swipe by Upshaw on Sunday, is proving costly, especially with no offensive punch of their own.

The timing couldn’t be worse. After putting up 17 runs against the Sioux Falls Canaries in a three-game series victory (including being blanked in Game 1) and 16 runs against Fargo-Moorhead as that series went the distance, Winnipeg now has one run to show for 20 innings of play against Kane County.

The list of ice-cold hitters is a long one, but nobody is struggling more than veteran Max Murphy. The team’s home run and RBI leader in the regular-season is now 0-for-7 against Kane County and just 2-for-28 in the playoffs. He’s got plenty of company in 1B Roby Enriquez (0-for-8), Arroyo (0-for-7), C Rob Emery (1-for-7), Simington (2-for-9) Bramasco (2-for-8) and Croes (2-for-8).

Winnipeg is also 0-for-12 in this series with runners in scoring position — 0-for-1o on Saturday, 0-for-2 on Sunday.

The Goldeyes knew they’d be in tough against the Cougars, who gave up just five combined runs in sweeping their first two playoffs series over Lake Country and Chicago. You can now make that six runs in six playoff games.

Cougars All-Star pitcher Jack Fox was tremendous on Sunday as he went seven innings that would have been perfect if not for a harmless second-inning walk. He followed up a solid outing by Greg Mahle on Saturday (seven scoreless innings, four hits, one walk, two strikeouts).

Kane County had the second-best team earned-run-average during the season, trailing only Winnipeg. The Goldeyes have now wasted two stellar starts by Bourassa and the league’s pitcher of the year, Joey Matulovich, who gave up just one unearned run in six innings of work on Saturday.

Expect either Zac Reininger or Mitch Lambson to be on the mound with the season on the line Tuesday, with the other hurler likely getting the ball on Wednesday should the series be extended. The Cougars are likely to counter with Spencer Stockton, who has a sizzling 0.77 ERA in his two playoff starts.

Winnipeg is playing in the Miles Wolff Cup final for the first time since 2017, when they won it all for a second straight season and fourth time in franchise history. Kane County is seeking a third-ever championship and first since 2014.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg