June 22: Goldeyes Lose 11 Inning Thriller 6-5 To Joliet

Matt Davis wasn’t very happy, but over a long season of baseball, the Goldeyes closer will bounce back.

Monday afternoon in front of 7,342 at Canwest Park, Davis gave up a solo homer in the top of the ninth and then two more runs in the eleventh as the Goldeyes blew a 4-3 lead and lost 6-5 in 11 innings to the Joliet JackHammers.

“I did not want to go out in the ninth and give up a solo home run,” Davis said. “I wanted to go out and get it done. To give up a two-out home run, that’s just not getting it done.

“But be fair to the Joliet guys. They’re professionals They come to the plate with a bat in their hands, they can all hit. I just didn’t execute the pitch with two outs. I don’t want to make a mistake like that again.”

It was a strange game. The Fish jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs on four hits in the first, but after Dee Brown drove in one run and Cody Ehlers drove in two more, the Winnipeg bats went silent.

In the meantime, Joliet proceeded to hit three solo homers, two by third baseman Andrew Pinckney and one by Tydus Meadows to tie the game at three entering the bottom of eight.

Dee Brown, who went 10-for-16 in the four-game series, stepped up and drilled a line drive over the centre field fence to give Winnipeg a 4-3 lead.

Unfortunately for the Fish, after Davis got the first two hitters in the ninth, Kevin Rios stepped up and hammered the first pitch he saw from Davis over the left field fence to tie it.

In the eleventh, Joliet scored twice, but after Kurt Crowell hit a solo bomb to lead off the bottom of the inning, the Goldeyes couldn’t finish the job and lost by a run.

With the loss, Winnipeg fell to 23-10 on the season and split the four-game series with Joliet. Immediately after the game, the Goldeyes got on the bus and headed for Kansas City where they will play a game Tuesday, two more on Wednesday and a morning game on Thursday before returning home to play Fargo on Friday night at Canwest Park.