WINNIPEG, Man. — Aaron Payne and C.J. Ziegler went deep but the Winnipeg Goldeyes (47-52) trumped the Saltdogs (34-66) with five long balls in a 13-7 victory in the season finale in front of 6,653 fans at Shaw Park Monday afternoon.
The Saltdogs jumped on the board in the first inning with a Matt Forgatch single, Aaron Payne triple and Mitch Canham sacrifice fly to post two.
Winnipeg countered with a two-run homer from Casio Grider followed immediately by a solo shot from Reggie Abercrombie.
In the second, Josh Mazzola blasted a three-run homer with two outs to cap a four-run frame to increase the Fish lead to 7-2.
Ziegler launched a solo home run in the fourth and Aaron Payne battled back from an 0-2 count to smack a home run on the ninth pitch of his at-bat to spark a three-run sixth inning rally.
Lincoln put the possible tying run at second base in the top of the sixth before Winnipeg pulled away with a three-spot of its own in the bottom-half.
Tony Smith (4-4) allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings and got the win. Jesse Smith (3-10) yielded eight runs in 5 1/3 to suffer the loss.
The Goldeyes used eight pitchers (the most the ‘Dogs have faced all season). The five home runs allowed by Lincoln was a season-high as well.
Both clubs won their respective divisions a year ago – before Lincoln advanced in a best-of-five series – but neither is in the postseason in 2015.