th 26 YEAR 21 WINNING SEASONS 19 PLAYOFF APPEARANCES 1994 CHAMPIONS 2012 CHAMPIONS 2016 CHAMPIONS 2017 CHAMPIONS WINNIPEG GOLDEYES 2019 GAME INFORMATION GAME: #35 ROAD GAME: #15 WINNIPEG GOLDEYES (21-13) at SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS (19-17) TUESDAY, JUNE 25th, 2019 – LEWIS AND CLARK PARK – 7:12 PM TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: WIN: RHP Parker French (2-1, 3.83) SC: RHP Max Duval (1-4, 6.37) GOLDEYES TAKE SERIES FROM MILKMEN: The Winnipeg Goldeyes beat the Milwaukee Milkmen 4-3 at Shaw Park on Sunday afternoon. Reggie Abercrombie homered leading off the bottom of the second to drive in the game’s first run. Kyle Martin cracked a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth that made it 4-0 Goldeyes. Milwaukee cut Winnipeg’s lead in half on a two-out, two-run home run from Adam Brett Walker in the top of the seventh. The Milkmen pulled within 4-3 in the eighth on an RBI single from Garrett Copeland. Tyler Garkow struck out Glen McClain and Christ Conley back-to-back to end the inning and strand the tying run on third. Victor Capellan pitched a perfect top of the ninth to earn his league-leading 12th save. Joel Seddon started for Winnipeg and picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. Seddon walked one and struck out four. ALL-TIME AGAINST THE EXPLORERS: The Winnipeg Goldeyes are 128-106 all-time against the Sioux City Explorers, including a 59-61 record at Lewis and Clark Park. The Explorers were an American Association-best 71-29 in 2018 and won the South Division before losing in five games to the Kansas City T-Bones in the South Division Series. Having won the Central Division in 2015 and 2016, the Explorers have reached the postseason three times in the last four years. In 2015, the Explorers set an American Association record with 75 wins before losing to the Laredo Lemurs in the American Association Championship Series (3-1). During the 2015 season, the Explorers set league records for team ERA (3.04) and stolen bases (188). The Explorers are the only team in league history to win 70 games in a season more than once. The Explorers are one of the last remaining original members of modern independent baseball, having started in the six-team Northern League in 1993. The Explorers join the St. Paul Saints and Sioux Falls Canaries as the three oldest independent franchises still operating in their original cities. The Explorers celebrated their 25th season in 2017. Steve Montgomery returns for his sixth season as Explorers’ manager, and previously served 10 years as pitching coach for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Bobby Post, who pitched for the Explorers from 1997-99, is in his sixth year as pitching coach under Montgomery, and his eighth overall in that role for the Explorers’ organization. The Goldeyes defeated the Explorers in four games in the 1994 Northern League Championship Series. The following year, the Goldeyes edged Sioux City in a 10-inning, one-game playoff on the final day of the 1995 regular season. Goldeyes’ catcher Hank Manning hit a tie-breaking home run in the top of the 10th at Lewis and Clark Park, and the Goldeyes advanced to the Northern League Championship Series for a second straight year. SERIES MATCHUP: The Winnipeg Goldeyes are 21-13, in second place in the American Association North Division, and 3.0 games behind the St. Paul Saints. The Goldeyes just won three of four from the Milwaukee Milkmen at Shaw Park. The Goldeyes are sixth in the American Association in hitting (.263), fifth in pitching (4.05), and first in fielding (.991). The Sioux City Explorers are 19-17 and tied with the Lincoln Saltdogs for first place in the South Division. Sioux City just swept a rain-shortened two-game series from the Sioux Falls Canaries at Lewis and Clark Park. The Explorers are seventh in the league in batting (.261), third in pitching (3.90), and fourth in defence (.982). This is the second of two head-to-head series this season between Winnipeg and Sioux City. The Goldeyes won three of four from the Explorers at Shaw Park earlier this month. PROJECTED UPCOMING PITCHING MATCHUPS TONIGHT’S STARTERS: The Goldeyes go with right- 6/26 at SC: LHP Mitchell Lambson (4-1, 2.70) vs. RHP Eric Karch (0-3, 4.43) hander Parker French who is 2-1 with a 3.83 ERA in six 6/27 at SC: LHP Ryan Johnson (1-2, 2.96) vs. RHP Taylor Jordan (3-4, 2.85) starts this season. French took the loss vs. Chicago last Wednesday, allowing four earned runs on four hits in 7.0 innings. French walked two and struck out one. French has pitched into the sixth inning or later in all six of his starts this year, and has allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of them. French was 1-4 with a 7.95 ERA last season in eight starts and 19 relief appearances for the Double-A Eastern League’s Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies). French was 8-11 with a 6.37 ERA for the Yard Goats in 2017, and allowed four or fewer earned runs in 16 of his 24 starts. In 2016, French led the High-A California League with a 2.85 ERA while pitching for the Modesto Nuts. No qualifying California League pitcher has matched that ERA since. French is in his fifth season of professional baseball, and is 23-30 lifetime with a 4.61 ERA in 95 appearances, 76 of them as a starting pitcher. French has averaged just 2.8 walks per nine innings as a professional, and has walked two batters or less in 60 of his 76 career starts. Entering 2019, French owned a 1.66 ground-out-to-air-out ratio (the 2018 Major League average was 1.03). French was drafted by the Rockies in the fifth round in 2015 out of the University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas). French was a combined 22-15 with a 2.60 ERA for the Texas Longhorns from 2012-15, and served as their “Friday Night Starter” as a sophomore in 2013. French is 0-0 with a 1.17 ERA in one career start against Sioux City. Tonight will be French’s first career start at Lewis and Clark Park. The Explorers go with right-hander Max Duval who is 1-4 with a 6.37 ERA in seven starts this season. Duval took a no-decision at Kansas City last Wednesday, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in 4.1 innings. Duval walked one and struck out three. The T-Bones won the game 4-3. Duval has walked two batters or less in five of his seven starts this season. Duval was 2-11 with a 7.16 ERA for the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami Marlins) last season in 16 starts and eight relief appearances. Duval went undrafted out of the University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii) following his senior season in 2013, and began his professional career in the Frontier League the following season with the Schaumburg Boomers. In 2016, Duval’s contract was purchased by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Duval is in his sixth season of professional baseball, and is 24-28 lifetime with a 4.36 ERA in 95 appearances, 70 of them as a starting pitcher. Duval has averaged 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings during his career against just 2.6 walks. Duval is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in one career start against Winnipeg. Duval is 1-2 with a 6.62 ERA in three career starts at Lewis and Clark Park. GOLDEYES MANAGER: Rick Forney is now in his 14th season as Goldeyes’ manager, and his 23rd overall within the organization. During his first 13 years at the helm, the Goldeyes have posted a .545 overall winning percentage (698-583), 10 winning seasons, nine playoff appearances, and an American Association-record three championships. Forney was voted American Association Manager of the Year in 2011, and managed the American Association during the American Association/Can-Am League All-Star Game in 2017. Forney’s .553 winning percentage in the American Association (2011-18) is the third-highest in league history (there have been 51 total American Association managers through the 2018 season). Forney pitched professionally for 10 years, including four seasons with the Goldeyes. During his playing career, Forney was 89-56 (.614) with a 3.63 ERA, and reached the Triple-A level in 1995. LONG STRETCH: Beginning with their contest on June 25th at Sioux City, the Winnipeg Goldeyes are scheduled to play 20 consecutive games without a day off. Winnipeg’s longest stretch of the year is 21 straight games from July 30th through August 19th. SWING-AND-A-PIECE: After 34 games, the Winnipeg Goldeyes’ collective swinging strike rate is 8.3 percent. The 2018 Major League average swinging strike rate was 11.6 percent. Second baseman Alex Perez has whiffed just 22 times out of 564 pitches seen (3.9%). CHASING ‘SAL’: Goldeyes’ fourth-year left-handed pitcher Kevin McGovern moved into second place on the Goldeyes’ career strikeouts list on May 26th vs. Kansas City. McGovern struck out 11 batters, and his fifth of the afternoon was his 381st in a Goldeyes’ uniform, moving him ahead of Andrew “Ace” Walker. Chris Salamida holds the franchise record for strikeouts with 435.