Goldeyes beat RailCats, move into sole possession of first place
The Winnipeg Goldeyes moved into sole possession of first place in the American Association’s West Division with a 6-3 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats Monday evening. Photo: Winnipeg Goldeyes
August 26, 2024
By Jason Young
Winnipeg Goldeyes
WINNIPEG, MAN. – The Winnipeg Goldeyes moved into sole possession of first place in the American Association’s West Division with a 6-3 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats Monday evening at Blue Cross Park.
The Goldeyes now sit a half game ahead of the Sioux Falls Canaries, who were idle.
Winnipeg took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when shortstop Ramón Bramasco came in on left fielder Miles Simington’s double to right field. Simington now has 31 two-baggers on the season, just one shy of the league lead.
The Goldeyes added a run an inning later on second baseman Edwin Arroyo’s sacrifice fly to centre field that scored third baseman Dayson Croes.
José Contreras put Gary SouthShore (30-64) ahead in the top of the sixth with a three-run home run to right-centre field that made the score 3-2.
In the bottom of the same inning, Winnipeg batted around and scored three times without the benefit of a hit. First, Croes came home on pinch hitter Keshawn Lynch’s ground out to shortstop to tie the game at 3-3. Centre fielder Nick Anderson and Arroyo were then forced home on back-to-back bases loaded walks, giving the Goldeyes two-run advantage.
Winnipeg went ahead 6-3 in the seventh when Croes trotted home on first baseman Jake McMurray’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Tasker Strobel was credited with the win, despite allowing two runs on three hits in an inning and two-thirds. Ryder Yakel worked the final two frames, fanning three of the eight batters he faced.
Goldeyes starter Joey Matulovich exited in the sixth inning and gave up a run on three hits. He struck out 10 batters, increasing his league-best season total to 145. Matulovich passed former Major League All-Star Jeff Zimmerman (Kelowna, B.C.) to move into second place on Winnipeg’s single-season strikeouts list.
Hunter Treece surrendered two runs in two-thirds of an inning but did not allow a base hit.
The series continues Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with Lethbridge, Alta.-born right-hander Landen Bourassa (7-6, 4.12 ERA) starting for the Goldeyes. The RailCats are expected to send Tai Tiedemann (5-8, 6.09 ERA) to the mound.