The Winnipeg Goldeyes (2-1) are advancing to the second round of the Miles Wolff Cup Playoffs after a 10-3 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries in the deciding third game of the West Division Series at Blue Cross Park Saturday evening.
Box Score
The Goldeyes crossed the plate five times in the first inning. Centre fielder Miles Simington opened the scoring with a two-run single up the middle that drove in second baseman Ramón Bramasco and third baseman Dayson Croes. Designated hitter Edwin Arroyo then hit his second three-run home run in two games – a 362-foot blast onto Waterfront Drive in left field.
Sioux Falls (1-2) got two runs back in the third. Second baseman Trevor Achenbach led off the inning with a home run to left before catcher Spencer Sarringar came in on right fielder Hunter Clanin’s single to centre field to make the scored 5-2.
Simington made it 8-2 in the fifth when he crushed a one-out, three-run shot to right-centre field that travelled 378 feet.
Canaries’ left fielder Josh Rehwaldt led off the top of the sixth with a home run to left to cut the deficit to five, but Winnipeg responded with two of their own in the bottom of the inning. Arroyo scored on Bramasco’s sacrifice fly to left field. Then Croes brought first baseman Jake McMurray in with a base hit to left that made it 10-3.
Mitchell Lambson (W, 1-0) started for the Goldeyes and went five innings. He gave up three runs on five hits while striking out six. Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, Thomas Ponticelli, and Tasker Strobel came out of the bullpen.
Neil Lang (L, 0-1) worked just two-thirds of an inning for Sioux Falls and allowed four runs on four hits. He was the first of eight pitchers used by the Canaries in the game.
The Goldeyes will now face the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in the West Division Championship Series. It will mark the 12th time the two rivals have met in the post-season, dating back 1996.
The series gets underway at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo Monday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Winnipeg will send American Association Post-Season All-Star Starting Pitcher Joey Matulovich (0-1, 6.75 ERA) to the mound, while the RedHawks will counter with fellow right-hander Orlando Rodríguez (0-0, 1.92 ERA).
Game two is set for Wednesday, September 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Blue Cross Park, with tickets going on sale at the Goldeyes Ticket Office and Goldeyes.com/Tickets Monday morning. The third game (if necessary) would also take place in Winnipeg Thursday at 6:30 p.m.