FARGO-The Winnipeg Goldeyes had one of their more complete efforts this season Tuesday night at Newman Outdoor Field.
The Goldeyes smacked 17 hits to fuel an 11-0 victory against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in American Association baseball before 3,791 fans.
"It was about as good as we've been in a long time, where we are actually pitching, hitting and playing some decent defense," Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said.
The RedHawks (13-32) have lost two of their past three games, unable to string together two consecutive wins for a third time this season. F-M's longest winning streak has been two.
The RedHawks fell behind four runs through three innings against the Goldeyes and weren't able to recover.
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"Our lineup is not solid enough to get the right people in the right spots to chip away," RedHawks manager Doug Simunic said. "When you don't starting pitch past the third inning, it's going to be a rough night."
Three Winnipeg pitchers combined on an eight-hit shutout. Left-handed starter Nick Hernandez did most of the work, allowing five hits over seven innings and lowering his season ERA to 1.89. Hernandez (5-2) struck out four and walked three batters.
"He's a tough matchup in this league because he never throws the same pitch the same speed," Forney said of Hernandez. "He has a lot of confidence in his changeup."
The Goldeyes started to pull away with a three-run third inning. Chris Robinson started that rally with a double to left field, later scoring on a Brad Boyer groundout. Ryan Babineau capped the surge with a two-run double to left field that gave Winnipeg a 4-0 lead.
"If you go down four, you have to be able to get back in it," Simunic said. "We just couldn't get back in it."
The Goldeyes added another three runs in the fifth inning. Boyer sparked that rally with a solo home run to right field. Leadoff hitter Adam Heisler capped that inning with an RBI on a fielder's choice that gave Winnipeg an 8-0 lead.
The RedHawks left 12 runners on base, loading the bases in the third and eighth innings. F-M was unable to break through in either inning.
"We couldn't mount enough off," Simunic said. "We couldn't get enough baserunners, and when we did, we would run into somebody."
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Every batter in the Winnipeg lineup had at least one hit. Goldeyes third baseman Casey Haerther finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs.
"We feel like we have some pretty good hitters in this lineup," Forney said. "Getting the consistency out of them has been a struggle."
NOTES: Left-hander Brandon Mann (1-4, 4.83 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday for the RedHawks. Winnipeg is expected to counter with right-hander Matt Jackson (2-5, 6.04 ERA).
