Fish fight back to earn series split

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This article was published 05/08/2024 (449 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes were determined not to drop the series against the division-leading Sioux Falls Canaries in the hunt for the top spot in the West — and thanks to a five-run sixth inning, the Fish earned the series-split in a 9-3 comeback victory Monday night.

In the exciting long weekend four-game series between the Goldeyes and the Canaries, every game had an inning where one of the teams scored five or more in an inning.

After the Goldeyes dropped Game 3 against the Canaries who had a five-run fourth-inning comeback win, the Fish returned the favour with a comeback of their own, regaining the lead in the fifth inning and not looking back to take the win in front of 4,341 fans at Blue Cross Park.

“This win was big today,” said right fielder Roby Enríquez, who had three RBIs. “…They always play us good, and we just played better today. So that was good to win.”

The Canaries came out strong with a three-run home run by designated hitter Jabari Henry to take a 3-0 lead at the top of the first.

“Kind of like another mirror image of what happened the night before,” said manager Logan Watkins. “I think this is probably the first series our starting pitching hasn’t been quite as sharp… But it was good to see our offence come to life and find a way to win anyways.”

Thanks to a couple of lucky bounces, the Goldeyes started chipping away at the comeback at the bottom of the fourth with singles by left fielder Miles Simington and first baseman Rob Emery that brought in Enríquez and Ramón Bramasco to cut the Canaries’ lead to 3-2.

“Thankful, just thankful for what God’s doing in my life,” said Enríquez on his game as of late. “He’s keeping me healthy and just thankful that I can contribute to the team and help the team win.”

The Fish added two more runs at the bottom of the sixth with Nick Anderson and Keshawn Lynch crossing the plate to give the squad their first lead of the night.

From there, the Goldeyes only kept heating up, with runs by Max Murphy, Anderson, Lynch, Bramasco and Kevin García giving the Fish a 9-3 lead at the bottom of the fifth.

Six Goldeyes had hits in the 13-hit performance.

“This is a pretty pivotal month,” said Watkins. “These next few weeks can kind of determine if we’re gonna have a chance to win the division or if we’re gonna be fighting to make the playoffs. So we’ll see and hopefully we can get rolling.”

Southpaw Travis Seabrooke got the start for this Fish, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out four in five innings pitched. After the first inning, Seabrooke locked in, not allowing any runs for the remainder of his play.

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Relievers Nick Trogrlic-Iverson and Ben Onyshko carried out the rest of the game, keeping the Canaries off the scoreboard.

The Goldeyes improved to 41-34 while the Canaries fell to 43-31 on the season.

The Fish start a six-game road trip Tuesday against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 7:05 p.m.

“Just day by day, game by game,” said Enríquez, looking forward to the next series. “We’re just having a great time right now. We’re having fun.”

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca