By Scott Lemon

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Sioux Falls starter Stephen Bougher had a tough day at the office on Sunday, allowing seven runs on eight hits and walked four in four innings in an 8-5 loss against the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

The Birds jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. Blake Schmit and Darwin Perez reached with back-to-back infield singles. Both advanced on an error by the first baseman, putting runners at second and third. Schmit came in to score the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice. After a David Bergin strikeout and a J.C. Linares walk, Perez crossed home plate on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Ryan Lashley to build the lead to 2-0. Cameron Monger drove in the third run of the game on a bloop single to right, allowing Taylor to score.

Working with a 3-0 lead, Bougher seemed to lose focus on the mound. Willie Cabrera led off with a double. Reggie Abercrombie and Wes Darvill hit back-to-back one-out singles to load the bases. Casio Grider walked to bring home the Goldeyes’ first run. Carlton Tanabe then brought in Abercrombie from third with a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-2.

In the top of the third, Bougher got the first two outs in order, but struggled to find the last out. Cabrera singled with two away, and Josh Romanski followed up with a two-out, two-run blast to allow Winnipeg to take the lead at 4-3.

Back-to-back walks from Darvill and Grider started the fourth for the Goldeyes. Darvill advanced to third on a fly out by Tanabe and Grider swiped second on a stolen base. Maikol Gonzalez singled to drive in Darvill and Grider to push the lead to 6-3 Winnipeg. The Goldeyes would tack on one more in the inning to make it a 7-3 ballgame.

The Birds got a run back in the bottom of the fifth. Perez walked with one away, then advanced to third on a one-out double by Jake Taylor. Bergin hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Perez from third, cutting the lead to 7-4.

Both offenses went quiet for a while after that. Winnipeg starter Ethan Carnes (4-1, 3.98 ERA) pitched very well through six full innings, and the Canaries bullpen was sharp to pick up their end of the bill, holding both offenses in a stalemate.

Josh Ferrell gave up a line drive solo homer to Romanski in the eighth inning to make it a 8-4 game, and Cameron Monger hit a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the ninth to cap off the scoring at 8-5.

J.C. Linares extended his hitting streak to ten games, and Blake Schmit now has 25 multi-hit game this season with his three-hit performance on Sunday.

The Birds hit the road for a seven game road trip starting on Tuesday, making stops in St. Paul (Tuesday through Thursday) and Wichita (Friday through Monday) before returning to The Birdcage on July 19. Contact the Canaries ticket office for information regarding single game or season ticket options by calling 605-336-6060 or visit the website at www.sfcanaries.com for more information.

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