Goldeyes ace O’Brien keeps Saints’ bats quiet

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This article was published 14/08/2017 (2437 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s just less than three weeks left in the regular season, but Winnipeg Goldeyes’ starting pitcher Mikey O’Brien is already in post-season form.

O’Brien limited the St. Paul Saints to two runs on four hits in seven innings on Tuesday night at Shaw Park. The Fish went on to win the game 8-2 — their fifth straight win against the Saints — and increased their division lead to seven games over the third-place Saints. The second-place Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are six games back.

“Great baseball game all around. We hit, played defence and we pitched well — that’s all you can ask for in a baseball game,” said O’Brien, who improved his record to 8-4.

O’Brien, a right-hander from Roanoke, Va., hasn’t lost a contest since July 21 at Kansas City. In his six starts and one relief appearance since then, he has a 3.10 ERA in 31 innings of work.

“I hope that trend continues,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. “(O’Brien is) a veteran pitcher and he’s a big reason why we won the championship last year. We leaned on him heavy and he’s available whenever you need him to pitch.”

O’Brien said it’s not just himself performing at a high level right now — the entire team is.

“This is the right time and I think everybody is right now. We’re playing good baseball right now. We’re doing the little things, playing defence, and having a lot of fun doing it,” said O’Brien.

While O’Brien cruised through the Saints’ batting order for majority of the game, St. Paul starter Benji Waite (4-4) had no answer for the Goldeyes.

Waite struggled with his command, as the Goldeyes scored their first run in the second inning off a wild pitch that missed home plate by a mile. He also hit two batters and was tagged for six runs before being replaced after three and two-thirds innings.

The Goldeyes had 14 hits on the night, with Josh Romanski, Reggie Abercrombie and David Rohm each ringing up three. David Bergin hit a solo blast in the seventh inning, his team leading 19th of the season, and Abercrombie went yard in the eigth, his 16th home run of the year.

Goldeyes reliever and Windsor, Ont., native Evan Rutckyj took care of the eighth inning before closer Ryan Chaffee came on in the ninth to finish out the game for the Fish.

The Goldeyes are now 49-32 on the season, while the Saints dropped to 42-39. Game three of the four-game series goes tonight with first pitch set for 7 p.m.

— Taylor Allen