May 27: Holliman Almost Unhittable while West Finds Hitting Easy as Goldeyes Hammer Jacks

Mark Holliman’s four-pitch repertoire combined with Kevin West’s sweet swing was the recipe for a sweet victory on Wednesday night.

Holliman, who once threw a no-hitter at the Double A level, improved to 2-0 on the season as the Goldeyes’ right hander threw seven complete innings of four-hit baseball as the Fish drilled the visiting Joliet JackHammers 6-1 at Canwest Park.

Holliman was so sharp on Wednesday night that after giving up his only run of the game in the third, he cruised through the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings without allowing a base runner. He retired 13 batters in a row before giving way to relievers Ian Thomas and Philip Roy who shut down the JackHammers in the eighth and ninth.

Meanwhile, the Goldeyes got more timely hitting, this time off the bat of veteran right fielder Kevin West. West went three-for-four with three doubles and three runs batted in as the Fish tagged former teammate Bear Bay with five runs on seven hits over six innings.

“It’s always interesting when you face a former teammate,” West said, on Shaw TV’s post-game show. “You really never know what you’re going to get. We know from Bear that he can be really good and you have to get to him early. We were able to score five runs in the first two innings before he settled down and pitch pretty well.

“At this stage of the season, the pitchers are ahead of the hitters, and it’s the pitchers who have held us together. Mark was great tonight and the other pitchers on the staff have been very good this year. We’ve been fortunate to have had so many great starts in our first seven games.”

West started the game hitting .238 and finished with a .333 average. Meanwhile, centerfielder Aharon Eggleston was back in the lineup after missing a game and a half with lower back pain and he picked up right where he left off. Eggleston went two-for-four with two runs scored.

“We didn’t bring these guys to Winnipeg to hit home runs all the time, although we certainly don’t mind it when they do,” manager Rick Forney told Paul Edmonds on the radio post-game show. “But we did sign them to drive in runs and that’s what they’ve been doing. We’ve had a number of two-out hits that have created runs this year and it seems that on most nights, someone in the lineup steps up and gets the job done for us.”

On Wednesday night, Kevin West was the man who stepped up.

Thursday morning at 11 a.m., the Goldeyes and JackHammers will play the final game of this four-game series. It’s getaway day and that means an early start as Winnipeg has to play in Rockford, Ill., on Friday night while the JackHammers go home to play host to Lake County.

Lefty Devin Anderson will get the start for Joliet (0-0) while another lefty, Chris Salamida (1-0), will take to the bump for the Goldeyes. Come out and enjoy brunch at the ballpark. The game will be replayed on Shaw 9 in Winnipeg at 7 p.m.