It’s a simple formula: Get a great effort from your starter, have a closer ready to shut it down and get a bomb from your slugger and you can probably eke out a win.
That’s what the Winnipeg Goldeyes did on a damp Saturday night as the Fish edged the Lake County Fielders 2-1 in front of 5,012 at Canwest Park.
Starter Chris Salamida pitched six and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball, reliever Andrew Barb put a halt to a Fielders rally in the ninth and “Big Juan” Diaz hit a two-run homer in the fourth as Winnipeg improved to 2-1 on the season.
“I had good command tonight,” said Salamida afterward. “I felt good right from the first inning. I trusted my stuff, threw strikes and got them to hit a lot of ground balls, My defence was outstanding behind me and that’s all I can ask for.
“I’m a pitch-to-contact hitter and I’m not trying to strike guys out, I’m just trying to get a ground ball. When I have the defence I had behind me tonight, I can be pretty successful.”
In a game that lasted just two hours and 22 minutes, Salamida was in control from his opening pitch. To be fair, however, Lake County starter Corey Bass was solid himself. Bass allowed only two runs on four hits over six complete innings. In fact, he probably made only one bad pitch...
“He threw me a fastball inside and I was able to turn on it,” said Diaz who hit a line shot over the leftfield wall with Aharon Eggleston standing on first. “I’ve been seeing the ball real good, but I’m not off to as fast a start as I’d like to be having. But I’ll just keep working in the cage and taking extra batting practice and I’ll get my timing back.”
Diaz’s homer was his second of the season and his second in as many games. However, he’s hitting just .273 early in the campaign and he’s not completely happy with his numbers.
“But we’re OK,” he said. “We’ve had two good games and two wins. We just have to keep going. Our pitching has been outstanding and our defence has been good. We just need to start hitting.”
The Goldeyes will have another chance to start hitting on Sunday afternoon when they face the Fielders in Game 4 of this four-game season-opening series. Right hander Jeff Long will get the start for Lake County while the 2009 Northern League pitcher of the year, Ace Walker, will get the call for Winnipeg. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
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