After getting shellacked in the opener 14-1 at the hands of their North Division rival, the Goldeyes battled back to earn two back to back shut outs against the St. Paul Saints.
The first game saw born again ace Chris Salamida pitch a compete game shutout of the Saints, giving up only two hits in the process. Salamida, who was on last year's championship team improved his record to a perfect 5-0 this season after signing with the Goldeyes in mid-August. Although he retired to pursue his post-baseball dream last off-season, the veteran lefty couldn't stay away when Goldeye's skipper Rick Forney gave him the call after southpaw Mark Hardy went to the DL.
Ray Sadler, Casey Haerther, and Tyler Graham led the way offensively going 2 for 4 at the plate respectively. It was Casey Haerther's two run home-run in the fourth that sealed the deal for the fish last night. http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/535-salamida-shuts-out-saints
Tonight's contest was no different for the Goldeyes, and that's all Winnipeg ball fans can ask for. The Saints struck out a combined 8 times, while staff ace Matt Rusch pitched all nine innings giving up only 3 hits and not allowing a St. Paul batter to reach scoring position. Rusch improved his record to 5-0 on the road this season, while his struggles continue at home. Casey Haerther had another good night with 3 hits, posting 2 RBI, while Tyler Graham, Fehlandt Lentini, Yurendell deCaster and Josh Mazzola each drove a run in each.
While the Goldeyes are well out of first place in the North Division, they still have a chance to take the wildcard spot from the Gary-Southshore Railcats, although it won't be easy, with Lincoln, Amarillo, and Grand Prairie all in the mix as well. With Gary-Southshore falling 18-5 in Wichita tonight, the Goldeyes moved to 2.5 games back, with 11 games remaining, and lead Lincoln by .5 a game, Grand Prairie and Amarillo remain 1 and 2 games back respectively. A full set of the standings can be seen on the American Association Website here:
http://www.americanassociationbaseball.com/standings/wild-card-standings/
The Goldeyes will try for the series win tomorrow night before heading south to play the Sioux Falls Canaries in a 3 game set. Jason Jarvis (5-10 4.12 ERA) who was acquired Sioux City will get the start for the fish who have decided to move to a 4 man rotation for the remainder of the season sending Pete Gehle to the bullpen. Anthonly Clagget will counter for the Saints. (8-4 3.28 ERA).
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/537-rusch-dominate-goldeyes-shutout-saints-again
Meanwhile, the Bombers have made more changes. First, came the firing of offensive coordinator Gary Crowton (which was long overdue), then they announced that Max Hall will be their starting QB this week against Hamilton. Time will tell whether Hall will be the short (and god-willing) long term answer at the QB position for the Bombers, but for now, it is his time to take the reigns and try and lead this team to an elusive second victory.
Maybe Max Hall will go 25-30, throw for 400 yards, or maybe Chad Simpson will rush for 150 yards in this week's game. Are those things likely? Or even possible? Probably not. But if they do, the secondary will need to get their act together to secure a victory. You can't let an accurate and experienced QB like Henry Burris throw the ball to open receivers at will, that's just asking for trouble. If things don't change this week more changes will be coming, although this time they will be on the defensive side of the ball.
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