Anyone that has followed the Northern League for the past couple of seasons knew that it wouldn’t take long for Brent Metheny to finally have his spring thaw.
Hitting just .246, going into Friday night’s game with Fargo-Moorhead, Metheny exploded for three hits in five trips. All three were extra base hits – two doubles and a home run – as he drove in five runs and scored twice to lead the Goldeyes to a 13-6 win at Canwest Park.
Last year, Metheny hit .357, one of the best averages in the Northern League. This year, through the first 17 games, he had struggled at the plate.
With the impressive win, first-place Winnipeg improved to 13-5 and remained a game ahead of the second-place Schaumburg Flyers, a red-hot outfit that has won eight-straight.
Metheny, meanwhile, raised his batting average to .270 and his slugging percentage to .527.
“Mostly it’s just patience,” Metheny told Shaw TV following the game. “I just had to start being more patient at the plate and start looking for better pitches to hit (he hit his home run on a 3-2 count). I had to quit swinging at the low, outside, off-speed stuff. I was more patient tonight and made better contact.”
It could be said the entire Goldeyes team made better contact on Friday as the Fish ripped 14 hits – 11 for extra bases, including seven doubles, a triple and three homers – as Winnipeg hung an eight-spot on the RedHawks in the second inning to put an end to this one early.
Along with Metheny’s big night, Dee Brown (.292) went two-for-four with two runs scored; Dustin Richardson (.355 with a .516 slugging percentage) had another big game, going two-for-three with a walk, three runs scored and one driven in; Wes Long (.368 with a .513 slugging percentage) went one-for-two with two walks, a run scored and two driven in; Cody Ehlers (.290) went three-for-five with two runs scored and one driven in. Every starter except centre fielder Cody Patton had at least one hit. Kevin West (league-leading six home runs) and Juan Diaz (.299) hit back-to-back homers in the second.
“It was good for everybody to swing the bats well, this was a great team effort,” said Metheny. “We’re a team that’s played well on the road this season and we have to start putting up some wins at home. This was a great way to start a seven-game homestand.”
The Goldeyes are now 9-2 on the road and 4-3 at Canwest Park.
Meanwhile, Metheny got a pie-ing from first-year teammate Josh Asanovich. While doing the post-game player-of-the-game interview with Jim Toth on Shaw, Asanovich came out of the dugout with the makeshift shaving cream pie and caught Metheny on the side of the face. The Goldeyes veteran took it in stride and actually got some TV shots in at Asanovich.
“What a rookie,” Metheny mocked. “First of all, if you’re going to do that, you come at a guy from the side, not head on. He got a piece of me, but only a piece because I’m way too quick for that.”
One thing is for certain. On Friday, Brent Metheny was way too quick for RedHawks pitching.
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