June 11: Ugly Win Just Fine for Forney

Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney had no trouble winning ugly on Wednesday.

"You have to win a few games like that," Forney said, "because you sure lose enough of them."

After losing 7-2 to the visiting Kansas City T-Bones in the continuation of Tuesday night’s rain-suspended game, the Goldeyes bounced back and won Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled affair 7-6.

But it took a long time and convoluted route for the Goldeyes to get to their 11th win of the season.

Winnipeg came out behind starter Antony Bello and built a 5-1 lead through the first three innings of the seven-inning game. By the time Bello sat down after five complete, the Goldeyes led 6-2.

But then the bullpen blew up once again. Philip Roy was tagged for four runs in the sixth (although Ian Thomas gave up the double to light-hitting Jimmy Mojica that allowed the final two runs to score) and despite a great start from Bello, the game was tied 6-6 heading into the seventh.

And that’s when the Goldeyes finally got a break. Vince Harrison was hit by a pitch, moved to second on an error, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch by T-Bones reliever Kyle Dahman. It wasn’t pretty but in a seven-inning game that took two hours and 47 minutes to play, the Goldeyes finally got a victory and improved to 11-9 on the season.

"It was not a good day for us," said Forney. "We have a lot of work to do. The bullpen is scuffling along and we have to get better defensively. Despite all of that, it’s nice that we have a chance to get a split in this series on Thursday."

After losing the series opener 12-3 on Monday and then the suspended game 7-2, the Goldeyes did get a win in Game 3 of the four-game set with first-place Kansas City. Thursday’s game, which starts at 11 a.m., features Goldeyes starter Mark Holliman who is 2-1 with a 2.25 earned run average.

"I’m not really paying attention to our record these days," said Forney. "I’m concerned about the way our ball cub is playing. The effort is good. They’re trying. They’re just struggling.

"Our starting pitching has been getting the job done, but all these short starts because of the rain has really beaten up our entire pitching staff. Bello is coming along and (Stephen) Flake pitched real well in the suspended game, but the rain hasn’t helped us much.

"I just hope we start to play better. We’re scuffling along right now."