Goldeyes fare poorly on road

IF Manitoba sports fans are unaware of the name Scott Oake, they’ve been deprived of one of the greatest sports voices of our time.

The award-winning and Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame sportscaster will be honoured at Blue Cross Park when the Winnipeg Goldeyes roll back into town to start a three-game homestand against the Lincoln Saltdogs tonight.

The Fish were still on the road Thursday night, where they avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Saltdogs in Nebraska with a resoundning 8-1 victory.

Before returning home for the Winnipeg portion of the home-and-home, here’s how the Fish fared on their seven-game road trip.

The Goldeyes had a rough start to the trip last Friday against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, logging a 10-2 loss.

Winnipeg started the game with a run thanks to third baseman Ramón Bramasco scoring on a throwing error. But the Fish weren’t able to score again until the top of the fourth when catcher Raphael Pelletier brought in shortstop Ray-Patrick Didder.

Saturday was a 4-2 loss with Fargo-Moorhead opening the scoring in the bottom of the second, quickly going up 1-0 off a Ryo Kohigashi wild pitch before a sacrifice fly brought in the RedHawks second run.

The home side made it 3-0 in the third with a homer before the Fish punched back in the fourth with a Max Murphy grounder bringing in Noah Marcelo.

The RedHawks added their fourth tally in the seventh before the Fish fell short of a rally, adding on their second run of the night as a Keshawn Lynch single brought home Roby Enríquez.

On Sunday, the Goldeyes came alive in the third game of the series, outlasting the RedHawks 13-10 in a 10-inning thriller.

Fargo-Moorhead opened the scoring with two runs in the third, before Murphy added on to his franchise record — his home run in the fourth cutting the score in half.

Jiandido Tromp’s homer in the fifth knotted the score before Lynch drove in Enríquez for the lead on a fielding error double.

Ramón Bramasco, Kevin García and Tromp all added to the visitors’ lead in the sixth before the RedHawks tied the game in a four-run seventh inning.

The Fish punched back with four runs in the ninth to regain the four-run lead before Fargo-Moorhead erased the lead — again — pushing the game into extra innings.

The Goldeyes’ Adam Hall, Lynch and Marcelo rounded home plate in the top of the 10th and pitcher Eli Saul gave the visitors the shutdown inning to hold on for the three-run win.

The final game of the series on Monday was halted due to rain and will resume on Sept. 1 when the Fish are back in Fargo.

However, the club was trailing 11-1 when the tarps were deployed — Marcelo putting the lone marker on the board in the fourth inning.

The first game of the home-and-home series in Nebraska on Tuesday was another disappointment for the Goldeyes.

The Fish dropped the opener 7-5 with Lincoln quickly taking a 1-0 lead before adding three more runs in the third and a run in the fifth.

Winnipeg responded with a five-run rally in the sixth — Marcelo, Murphy, Tromp, T.J. Schofield-Sam and Didder being driven home, respectively — tying the game at five.

But the Saltdogs regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth and added an insurance marker in the seventh to take the series opener.

The Fish didn’t fare much better on Wednesday, driving in three runs to Lincoln’s eight.

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Winnipeg had a strong first inning with Marcelo hitting a homer, but the Saltdogs quickly responded in the bottom of the first with two runs.

Murphy tied the game for the Fish in the second off a wild pitch with runners at first and third, but Lincoln retook the lead in the bottom of the inning with three runs. The Saltdogs added three more runs in the fifth.

Marcelo hit his second homer of the night in the eighth for the Fish, but the Goldeyes couldn’t muster any more runs.

The Fish have a day off Monday after their three-game weekend series before going back on the road to face the Sioux City Explorers in Iowa on Tuesday.

sports@freepress.mb.ca