July 2: Goldeyes Bullpen Implodes As Fish Fall 9-5 To Schaumburg

It looked like the Goldeyes had one in the bag after Dee Brown and Cory Patton hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh on Canada Day.

But that 4-2 lead didn’t last long as the Schaumburg Flyers put up seven runs in the top of the eighth and hung on to whip the hosts Goldeyes 9-5 in the final game of a three-game series at Canwest Park.

As close to 7,000 fans looked on, Goldeyes starter Zach Baldwin was solid through six innings, but relievers Jordan Stewart and Aaron Odom couldn’t hold the lead as Winnipeg fell to 27-13 on the season, but still led second-place Fargo-Moorhead and Kansas City by six-and-a-half games. After a day off Thursday, Winnipeg opens a three-game series before the all-star break.

“I thought we looked pretty good in this one,” said Winnipeg manager Rick Forney, “but we just couldn’t lock it down. We had an opportunity to sweep at home and that’s what you like to do in this league, but we just couldn’t finalize the deal today.”

The Goldeyes hit four solo homers as Kevin West, Brown, Patton and Cody Ehlers all hit bombs, but that eighth-inning collapse spelled doom for a team that was on a three-game winning streak.

“That was a win we really needed,” said Schaumburg right fielder Victor Ferrante, who hit a three-run homer to fuel that seven-run eighth. “We’d lost six in a row and you just can’t afford to do that in this, or any other league. Maybe a big comeback like that will get us on a roll again.”

Meanwhile, injured Goldeyes shortstop Wes Long returned to the ballpark with his broken ankle in a cast, and said he would accompany the team to Gary and make an appearance at the All-Star Game in Joliet on Tuesday.

“My wife and I had made plans that she would come and meet me in Gary and stay for the All-Star Game in Joliet, then I would head back to Winnipeg and she’d go home,” Long said.

“Now, we’ll do it all for a different reason. We’ll meet up in Gary, go to Joliet, then she’ll go home and I’ll come back to Winnipeg for an MRI on my ankle. Hopefully, I’ll be fitted for a walking boot by then. After that, the team is on a long road trip, so I’ll go back to Seattle for a couple of weeks and then come back to Winnipeg in late July or early August. I’m still hoping I’ll be able to return for the playoffs.”