September 2, 2021

By Steve Schuster

Winnipeg Goldeyes

WINNIPEG, MB – The Winnipeg Goldeyes (50-45) beat the Chicago Dogs 13-11 at Shaw Park on Thursday night.

Box Score

The win was the Goldeyes’ 50th of the season, which clinches a winning record for a 23rd time in the club’s 28-year history. Since the Goldeyes began play in 1994, only the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers have posted more winning seasons at any level of professional baseball.

Chicago took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-run single from Danny Mars.

The Goldeyes answered back in the bottom half when Kyle Martin ripped a three-run home run to right-centre. It was Martin’s 30th home run of the season, breaking the previous record of 29 set by Sean Hearn in 1998 and matched by Juan Diaz in 2009. The three-run shot also pushed Martin’s season RBI total to 101, making him the first American Association player since 2011 (Ray Sadler, Kansas City T-Bones) to reach 100-plus RBI, and just the fourth player in league history.

After the Dogs (59-37) tied the game in the top of the third on a KC Hobson sacrifice fly, the Goldeyes regained the lead in the bottom half with a six-run rally. Max Murphy singled to right-centre leading off and scored from first on a double to left-centre from Martin. After Deon Stafford reached on an infield single, Kevin Lachance lined a single to centre that scored Martin. Two batters later, Austin Rei made it 6-3 with a line drive single to centre that scored Stafford. Tyler Hill capped the inning with a two-out, three-run home run to left.

The Goldeyes extended the lead to 13-3 with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Tyler Hill and Wes Darvill (Langley, B.C.) opened the inning with singles. Murphy then reached on an infield single that resulted in a throwing error that allowed Hill to score the Goldeyes’ 10th run. With runners on second and third and no outs, Martin plated Darvill with a ground out to first. The RBI was Martin’s fifth of the game and his 103rd of the season, tying Cesar Nicolas (Grand Prairie, 2009) for the American Association single-season record. Murphy scored on a wild pitch before Stafford made it 13-3 with an opposite-field solo home run to right.

The Dogs climbed back into the game with a six-run top of the seventh. Hobson slugged a two-run home run to right, while Harrison Smith hit a three-run double. Brennan Metzger’s RBI single pulled Chicago within 13-9, and the Dogs went on to load the bases with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Travis Seabrooke (Peterborough, Ont.) retired Hobson and Joey Terdoslavich to strand the bases full and end the inning.

With two outs and no one on base in the top of the ninth, the Dogs rallied for two runs on RBI singles from Hobson and Anfernee Grier. Donnie Hart retired Ryan Lidge on a ground out to Martin at first to close out the game and strand the tying runs on base. Hart picked up his 10th save of the year.

Lethbridge, Alta., native Landen Bourassa (4-0) started for the Goldeyes and picked up the win, allowing three earned runs on six hits in five innings. Bourassa walked three and struck out three.

Dogs’ starter Shane Barringer (2-1) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits in two-plus innings. Barringer walked one and struck out two.

All nine Goldeyes’ position players had at least one hit. Lachance has hit safely in nine games in a row. Milwaukee’s Adam Brett Walker also homered on Thursday for his 31st of the year, which ties the American Association single-season record set by Chicago’s Keon Barnum in 2019. Sioux City’s Jose Sermo ranks third in the league with 28 home runs. Cleburne’s Ramon Hernandez picked up his 100th RBI on Thursday, becoming the fifth player in league history to reach the milestone.

The Goldeyes open a four-game series against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Shaw Park on Friday at 6:35 p.m.