WINNIPEG GOLDEYES DAILY CLIPPINGS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd , 2020

- Goldeyes Drop Opener to Dogs—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Steve Schuster), 9/2/20 - September 2 nd Game Highlights (Video Link)—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Jason Young), 9/2/20 - Ladendorf and Dugan Go Deep Twice as Dogs Edge Goldeyes— (Sam Brief), 9/2/20 - Goldeyes Reeling After Losing Nine Straight But Still Have Chance to Make League Final With Strong Stretch Run—Winnipeg Sun (Ted Wyman), 9/1/20 - Goldeyes Add Outfielder Almadova—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Steve Schuster), 9/1/20 - Goldeyes Add Former Major League Pitcher—Winnipeg Goldeyes (Steve Schuster), 8/30/20

GOLDEYES DROP OPENER TO DOGS STEVE SCHUSTER – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 nd ROSEMONT, IL – The Winnipeg Goldeyes (25-27) lost 10-6 to the Chicago Dogs at Impact Field on Wednesday night.

Kyle Martin blasted a solo with two outs in the top of the first inning.

Chicago (23-26) answered back with seven runs in the bottom of the first. Joey Terdoslavich hooked a two-run homer to left that put the Dogs in front 2- 1. After the Dogs loaded the bases, Tyler Ladendorf launched a grand slam to left. Kelly Dugan followed with a towering solo shot to right.

Ladendorf added a solo home run to left with one out in the fourth to make it 8-1.

The Goldeyes began chipping away in the top of the fourth. Jonathan Moroney doubled off the wall in centre leading off and scored on an RBI single to left-centre from Wes Darvill .

In the top of the seventh, Kevin Lachance beat out an infield single leading off. Two batters later, Darnell Sweeney walked, setting up a three-run blast to left-centre from Martin that pulled the Goldeyes within 8-5.

Darvill doubled down the left field line with one out in the top of the eighth. Jordan George walked, and Lachance doubled to left to score Darvill and put the tying runs in scoring position. Chicago reliever Adam Choplick escaped further damage after winning a nine-pitch battle with Breland Almadova that resulted in a , and retiring Sweeney on a long drive to right-centre.

Dugan hit a two-run home run to left-centre in the bottom of the eighth to re-extend the Dogs’ lead to 10-6.

Luke Westphal (3-2) started for the Dogs and picked up the win, allowing five earned runs on eight hits in six and one-third innings. Westphal walked three and struck out 10.

Mitchell Lambson (4-3) started for Winnipeg and took the loss, allowing eight earned runs on seven hits in five innings. Lambson walked three and struck out five.

Nate Antone and Jose Jose each worked a scoreless inning of relief for the Goldeyes.

The Goldeyes and Dogs conclude their series with a double header on Thursday afternoon beginning at 4:05 p.m. Both games are scheduled for seven innings. All the action can be heard locally on 93.7 FM CJNU and worldwide at www.cjnu.ca

For information on Goldeyes’ merchandise and 2021 season tickets, visit the Goldeyes’ official website at www.goldeyes.com

VIDEO: SEPTEMBER 2 nd GAME HIGHLIGHTS JASON YOUNG – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 nd LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Kdvclh4qA

LADENDORF AND DUGAN GO DEEP TWICE AS DOGS EDGE GOLDEYES SAM BRIEF – CHICAGO DOGS – WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 nd Rosemont, Ill. — Tyler Ladendorf and Kelly Dugan each homered twice as the Dogs cruised to a series opening 10-6 win over the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

After scoring just seven runs during their weekend series against the Milwaukee Milkmen, the Dogs exploded for seven runs — on three home runs — in the first inning, blasting Winnipeg starter Mitchell Lambson. Dogs starter Luke Westphal struck out a season-high 10, earning his third win of 2020.

The Goldeyes trailed 8-1 through three innings but made things spicy late in the game. Kyle Martin’s second home run — three-run shot — put Winnipeg within three runs in the seventh. A Kevin LaChance RBI double then inched the Goldeyes closer, bringing the score to 8-6 in the eighth inning. With the tying run at second base, reliever Adam Choplick then dialed up a strikeout and a flyout to keep the Dogs on top. Dugan’s second home run put Chicago up, 10-6, in the eighth, before Paul Schwendel shut the door in the top of the ninth inning.

Winning Pitcher: LHP Luke Westphal

Losing Pitcher: LHP Mitchell Lambson

Save: N/A

Star of the Game: INF Tyler Ladendorf . The Chicago shortstop smashed his second grand slam of the season to cue his 2-for-3, 2 home run, 5 RBI evening.

Next: Who? Winnipeg Goldeyes vs. Chicago Dogs, Games 2 and 3 Where? Impact Field, Rosemont, Illinois When? Thursday, 4:05 p.m. CDT Pitching matchups? Game 1: RHP Frank Duncan (Winnipeg) vs. LHP Thomas Dorminy (Chicago) Game 2: LHP Evan Grills (Winnipeg) vs. LHP Jake Dahlberg (Chicago) Broadcast: AABaseball.TV

Extra Bite: The Dogs’ five home runs tonight powered Chicago to 80 longballs on the season — 22 more than second-place Sioux Falls.

GOLDEYES REELING AFTER LOSING NINE STRAIGHT BUT STILL HAVE CHANCE TO MAKE LEAGUE FINAL WITH STRONG STRETCH RUN TED WYMAN – WINNIPEG SUN – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 st After losing nine straight games, there’s no doubt the Winnipeg Goldeyes needed a day off on Monday, but it wasn’t exactly what you would call a calming reset.

“It’s good not to play a game when you’ve been playing bad as long as we have, but it wasn’t necessarily a great day off,” Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said Tuesday morning from Chicago.

“Most of us had to drive from Fargo to Milwaukee to drop our cars off and the bus met us there and we bused the rest of the way down to Chicago. It wasn’t a day of rest and relaxation by any means.”

The Goldeyes have nine games left in the shortened American Association season — three each in Chicago, St. Paul and Milwaukee. The season ends with a three-game series in Milwaukee next Tuesday to Thursday and the Goldeyes players and staff wanted to have their cars there — instead of in their home base of Fargo — so they can leave right after the season.

Of course, there’s still a chance they’ll make the league final, despite their recent struggles.

The Goldeyes sat 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot heading into Tuesday’s evening game against the last-place Chicago Dogs.

Should they get on a run over the final nine games, the 25-26 Goldeyes could find themselves in the best-of-seven final. Currently, the Milwaukee Milkmen and Sioux Falls Canaries hold the top two spots in the standings, but their lead is slim.

“Everybody’s in it,” Forney said of the league, which was reduced to six teams this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nobody has been eliminated. There’s a lot of parity in the league and I don’t think anybody is head and shoulders above anybody. Whether you’re currently in first place or currently in last place it’s just going to amount to whoever has the best nine days here.

“For us, we’ve got to go at least 7-2 I would think and we’ve had some good stretches before and nobody is giving up. Everybody is optimistic, the energy is good, the effort is good. We just haven’t been getting good results. For us, it’s all going to be determined by how we do offensively. If we can score enough runs, we can be right there. This has always been a run-scoring league.”

On Aug. 21 the Goldeyes beat the Milkmen 2-1 to improve their record to 25-17 and were at the top of the American Association standings.

Forney admits they haven’t played well since that day but they’ve also suffered a rash of injuries, including to their No. 1 (Kevin LaChance), No. 3 (Kyle Martin) and No. 4 (Logan Hill) hitters in the lineup.

“The reality of the whole situation just kind of caught up to us,” Forney said. “I wouldn’t say when we were winning games, we were head and shoulders above anybody in this league, we were just catching some breaks. We’re not really catching any breaks right now and we’re not doing much on offence.” LaChance, Martin and Hill are back in the lineup now, so at least the Goldeyes should have most of their roster available for the stretch run.

Forney said a by-product of the Goldeyes playing their entire season on the road has been that they’re doing so with a barebones staff. That means the team does not have a full-time trainer and needs to rely on other organizations for help in that area.

“It’s just one of those things that catches up to you,” he said. “It’s very important that you have your own full-time trainer that can take care of your team every day and we don’t have a full-time trainer. We’re just winging it this year and borrowing somebody else’s trainer. It’s hard to keep your guys on the field.”

Another challenge has been presented by the protocols designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With social distancing a primary objective, players and coaches have been asked to stay out of the clubhouse/locker room as much as possible.

Forney understands and supports the protocol but believes it makes it much more difficult for a team to come together.

“The clubhouse and the locker room are a big part of what you do in sports,” he said. “Whether it’s football, basketball, hockey, , the clubhouse is a sanctuary and it’s important. It’s where a lot of team building goes on. We’re pretty much avoiding the clubhouse as much as we possibly can because the league doesn’t want us hanging out there.”

Still, despite all that has gone on lately, the Goldeyes are still contenders for a championship.

“I don’t think anybody feels like we’ve got no chance of doing it,” Forney said.

Forney thankful to American Association owners for giving players a chance to play in crazy 2020 Through his 30 years in , Rick Forney has never seen anything like this crazy American Association season.

His team, the Winnipeg Goldeyes, are playing all of the shortened, 60-game season on the road and it’s been one challenge after another — positive COVID-19 tests, and a bus crash included.

“It’s strange times,” Forney said. “There’s a lot of crazy things going on this year and if definitely has a feel like no other.”

All that said, Forney is thankful that the American Association managed to pull off a season, when no other minor league baseball was played in 2020.

“I’m glad that the players had a chance to play this year,” Forney said. “There’s a lot of people that are thankful they had the opportunity to play. I feel bad for (Goldeyes owner) Sam (Katz) and the other owners in the league. It’s a huge financial hit that they agreed to take on just to allow our league to operate this year in some capacity. It’s been terribly, terribly difficult on them and at the end of the day, we’re thankful that they have allowed our kids to come and play baseball.”

GOLDEYES ADD OUTFIELDER ALMADOVA STEVE SCHUSTER – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 st WINNIPEG, MB – The Winnipeg Goldeyes signed outfielder Breland Almadova on Tuesday.

Almadova (pronounced all-muh-DOH-vah) hit a combined .305 with 42 runs scored, 12 RBI, and 39 stolen bases in 57 games for the Constellation Energy League’s Sugar Land Lightning Sloths and Eastern Reyes del Tigre. The Honolulu, Hawaii native led the circuit in stolen bases. The Constellation Energy League is a four-team independent hub based out of Sugar Land Texas, home of the Atlantic League’s Sugar Land Skeeters.

Last year, Almadova was an Atlantic League All-Star playing for the expansion High Point Rockers where he batted .278 in 36 contests. The 29-year- old outfielder then finished the season with the Can-Am League’s Sussex County Miners, and helped the club to the Can-Am League Championship Series. During the 2018 season, Almadova set a Can-Am League single-season record with 51 stolen bases while playing for Sussex County.

Almadova previously played in the American Association for the St. Paul Saints from 2016-17. In 2016, Almadova finished sixth in the league with 29 stolen bases, ranked first with 12 outfield assists, and helped the Saints reach the American Association playoffs. A right-handed hitter, but left-handed thrower, Almadova has made eight career appearances as a pitcher in which he has a 2.45 ERA in seven and one-third innings.

Almadova was originally drafted by the in the 37 th round in 2012 out of the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu, Hawaii). The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Almadova joins the Goldeyes with a career .267 batting average, .351 on-base percentage, and has averaged 100 runs scored, 25 doubles, 64 RBI, 69 walks, and 49 stolen bases per 162 games as a professional. In 2014, Almadova earned a Minor League Baseball Gold Glove Award while playing for the Low-A Midwest League’s South Bend Silver Hawks.

Additionally, the Goldeyes activated right-handed pitcher John Gorman from the Injured List, and released left-handed pitcher Ryan Thurston and infielder Eric Wood .

The Goldeyes’ active roster now stands at 22 players. Tuesday is the American Association’s 2020 roster deadline.

The Goldeyes open a three-game series against the Chicago Dogs tonight at Impact Field. All the action can be heard locally on 93.7 FM CJNU and worldwide at www.cjnu.ca

For information on Goldeyes’ merchandise and 2021 season tickets, visit the Goldeyes’ official website at www.goldeyes.com

GOLDEYES ADD FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE PITCHER STEVE SCHUSTER – WINNIPEG GOLDEYES – SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 th WINNIPEG, MB – The Winnipeg Goldeyes signed former Major League right-handed pitcher Josh Lucas on Sunday.

Lucas made 32 combined appearances (two starts, 30 in relief) for the ’ and ’ organizations. The Lakeland, Florida native was 1-2 with three saves and a 6.38 ERA in 42.1 innings, striking out 38 batters. Lucas’ 2019 campaign included nine Major League appearances for the Orioles, in which he struck out 16 batters in 15.2 innings. Lucas’ slider generated a 34.5 percent whiff rate (swinging strikes per opposing batter swings), which sat above the Major League average of 23 percent.

Lucas also reached the Majors in 2017 with the St. Louis Cardinals, and again in 2018 with the . The 6-foot-6, 185-pound right- hander’s two-seam fastball averaged 92 miles per hour during his time in the Majors, while creating 5.7 inches of vertical break and 4.0 inches of horizontal break above the Major League average.

Lucas was originally drafted by the Cardinals in the 21 st round in 2010 out of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (Bradenton, Florida). The 29- year-old is in his 10 th season of professional baseball, and has a lifetime 25-21 record with 57 saves and a 3.71 ERA in 272 appearances, 17 of them as a starting pitcher. Lucas has averaged 8.2 per nine innings during his career versus only 2.6 walks.

During his time in the Cardinals’ system, Lucas earned Double-A Texas League All-Star honours with the Springfield Cardinals in 2016, and was assigned to the ’s Surprise Saguaros in 2017.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes conclude a three-game series with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. All the action can be heard locally on 93.7 FM CJNU and worldwide at www.cjnu.ca

For information on Goldeyes’ merchandise and 2021 season tickets, visit the Goldeyes’ official website at www.goldeyes.com