‘It’s kind of do-or-die now’

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This article was published 19/08/2019 (2272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If there’s going to be any playoff baseball at Shaw Park this year, the Winnipeg Goldeyes can’t afford to have any more performances like the one they had Sunday afternoon at home.

It was a packed house, as 6,652 fans came to see the Goldeyes open a two-game series against their North Division rivals, the St. Paul Saints. The fans paid to see a baseball game, but instead they witnessed a trainwreck as the Saints gave the Fish a 17-5 beating.

Outside of two homers from first baseman Dominic Ficociello, including a three-run blast in the sixth inning, there weren’t any positives for the Goldeyes as the Saints outhit them 21-7. The game was essentially decided in the fourth inning when Parker French, Joel Bender and Tyler Garkow all took turns on the mound for the Winnipeg side and combined to give up six runs in the frame.

Things got even uglier in the ninth inning as reliever Brandon Bingel coughed up six runs on six hits.

“Even though I had a good game, in the long haul, it’s about wins at this point and stage of the season,” Ficociello said after the game.

“I’m happy I played well, but I’d much rather walk away with a W. No doubt about it. That fourth inning just kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit. That was just a tough game for us.”

But the bigger picture is the fact the Goldeyes (48-38) now find themselves five games behind St. Paul (53-33) for the second and final playoff spot in the North Division.

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks have ran away with the North this year as they’re sitting on top with a 56-30 record.

In the past week, the Goldeyes have had the opportunity to solidify themselves in the playoff race. They played three games in St. Paul before welcoming the Chicago Dogs, who are also ahead of the Goldeyes in the North Division standings with a 50-35 record, to Shaw Park for a three-game series. But the Fish now find themselves on the ropes as they were only able to win one game in each series.

With only 14 games left for the Fish, there’s no time to waste. They need to get hot down the stretch, otherwise they’ll be on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin. The Goldeyes are 4-6 in their past 10 contests.

“I think (we need) to get our confidence back and a little bit of swagger because we got plenty good enough of a team here,” said Ficociello, who now has nine homers and 45 RBIs on the year.

“We just gotta remember that and come back and get as many wins as we can in the next two weeks because it’s kind of do-or-die now.”

The Fish were nowhere near the playoff picture last season as they closed out the year at 41-59. If the Goldeyes fail to sneak into the post-season this year, it would be the first time since 2004 and 2005 that the club failed to make the playoffs in two straight seasons.

“I don’t think there’s a guy in this locker room that doesn’t believe that we can’t do it. Like I said, as a group, we need to get our confidence back and start believing in ourselves again and kind of forget about this past week or so and start getting wins under our belt.”– Dominic Ficociello

The good news for the Fish is they’ll close things out with a seven-game homestand against two of the worst teams in the American Association — the Gary SouthShore RailCats and Sioux Falls Canaries. But those games won’t mean anything if the Fish flop on the road this week.

After today’s series finale at Shaw Park against St. Paul, the Goldeyes will head to Chicago to play three games against the Dogs before starting a four-game road series against a very talented Fargo-Moorhead team.

So, with the odds stacked against them, do the Goldeyes really believe they still have a chance to steal a playoff spot?

“Absolutely. I don’t think there’s a guy in this locker room that doesn’t believe that we can’t do it,” Ficociello said.

“Like I said, as a group, we need to get our confidence back and start believing in ourselves again and kind of forget about this past week or so and start getting wins under our belt.”

The Fish will try to start a winning streak tonight as they host the Saints at 7 p.m.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31