Four straight series wins for Fish

That’s four series wins in a row for the Winnipeg Goldeyes, who had a few lopsided losses but stuck with it to finish their six-game homestand with a 4-2 record, closing it out with a 12-4 win against the Sioux City Explorers on Sunday.

The Goldeyes started a series with the Sioux Falls Canaries on Tuesday with a 9-3 win, but followed it up with a 15-2 shelling at the hands of the Canaries.

On Thursday, the Fish closed out the series with a tight 8-7 comeback victory. They were down three separate times throughout the game but ultimately pulled off the win, thanks to Keshawn Lynch scoring after the Canaries bobbled the ball at second base in the eighth inning.

Going into the weekend series against Sioux City, one of the West Division’s top teams this year, things didn’t start the way the Goldeyes wanted in game one.

The visitors got on the board early in the first inning to open a 2-0 lead, and the Goldeyes couldn’t find a response.

The Explorers added three more runs in the fifth and topped things off with five in the sixth to solidify a dominant 8-0 lead, as the Goldeyes’ bats stayed silent.

Explorers starting pitcher Zach Willeman had a strong performance, allowing just one hit over seven innings while striking out seven, although walking three.

But the Fish were able to bounce back on a smoky Saturday evening in Winnipeg, another close game that went to extra innings. Thanks to a Roby Enríquez single that brought in Keshawn Lynch, the Goldeyes were able to secure a 4-3 win in the tenth inning.

Sioux City had opened the scoring once again, this time at the top of the third, but runs by Jacob Robson, Gustavo Sosa and Matthew Warkentin in the bottom of the inning gave the Goldeyes the lead for the first time in the series.

The Explorers tied the game in the sixth, followed by scoreless innings until Enríquez secured the win.

In Sunday’s game, the Explorers got one early in the first inning, but Enríquez — who led the team in batting average coming into the game at .326 — quickly tied things up.

Goldeyes’ Ray-Patrick Didder gave the Fish the lead in the bottom of the second with his first home run at home this season.

The Explorers tied things up in the top of the fourth, but runs by Didder and Kevin Garcia in the bottom half quickly put the Goldeyes back in front.

Didder, continuing his strong game, brought in three more runs in the fifth with a triple to right field, then scored himself on a Braxton Turner single to make it 8-2 Goldeyes.

Sioux City’s Torin Montgomery hit a two-run home run to make it 8-4, but the Goldeyes answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 9-4, before play was halted for a 45-minute rain delay.

The Fish came back to finish the sixth with runs by Enríquez and Tanner O’Tremba, and added one more in the seventh for good measure to cap off the 11-hit win.

The Goldeyes hit the road Tuesday for a rematch against the Explorers. Game one of the series starts at 7:05 p.m.

The Fish then come back home to Blue Cross Park on Friday to start a six-game homestand against the Milwaukee Milkmen.

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca