The Vancouver Canadians got past the Tri-City Dust Devils 6-5 at Gesa Stadium on Friday.
The C’s were in trouble early on as Tri-City got on top in the bottom of the first inning. Adrian Placencia tripled to right with one out and came home on a balk committed by Vancouver starter Chris McElvain.
The Dust Devils expanded their lead in the third with a one-out rally that began with a Joe Redfield double to right. Placencia got aboard with a walk and he and Redfield would come home when Wetaskawin, Alberta native Matt Coutney deposited the ball over the fence in right-center field for a three-run homer off McElvain.
The Canadians stormed back in the fourth by loading the bases with nobody out against Dust Devils starter Walbert Ureña. Robert Brooks and Dylan Rock both singled to left and Estiven Machado walked to fill the bags. A wild pitch scored Brooks and a groundout to second by Jamari Baylor drove in Rock to cut the Tri-City lead in half at 4-2. A walk to Jace Bohrofen meant the end of the night for Ureña. Houston Harding could not preserve the lead as Nick Goodwin doubled to left to score Machado. A Peyton Williams RBI groundout to second plated Bohrofen with the tying run.
Vancouver would take the lead in the sixth against Harding. Machado led off with a base hit to left and a Baylor single to right field off Harding put runners on the corners. Machado was cut down trying to score on a Bohrofen 1-5 fielder’s choice. Goodwin then popped up to second and just when it looked like Vancouver was going to come up empty-handed, Williams pulled a full-count pitch for a single to right that Coutney could not grab at first base and that would bring in Baylor with the go-ahead run.
The Dust Devils drew even with one away in the eighth when Coutney connected for another home run, this time against Grayson Thurman, to even the score at 5-5.
Vancouver would match that with a long ball of its own in the top of the ninth. Williams greeted Dust Devils reliever Dylan Phillips with a home run to right field.
Conor Larkin locked it down with the help of his outfielders. Je’Von Ward made a diving catch in left field to take away a hit from Juan Flores for the first out. Larkin struck out Ketchup for the second out before Werner Blakely singled to left. Marcos De La Rosa—who entered the game as a defensive replacement in center field—made a diving catch on a sinking liner from Jorge Ruiz to end the game.
C-Notes
McElvain held the Dust Devils off the board in the second inning. He stranded a leadoff triple to left by Chad Stevens by striking out Juan Flores and Caleb Ketchup swinging and Blakely looking.
Not to be forgotten in the win was three shutout innings in the middle of the game by Alex Amalfi. He struck out Ketchup looking in the middle of a perfect fourth inning and fanned Ruiz and Redford before overcoming a couple of free passes to Placencia and Coutney in the fifth. Amalfi spun a perfect sixth by striking out Ketchup for the third out.
Thurman fanned Blakely and Redfield to begin and end a perfect seventh inning. Despite giving up the lead in the eighth, Thurman held the line by getting Placencia and Cam Williams looking at strike three.
The Canadians stranded six runners over the first three innings against Ureña. A Bohrofen walk and stolen base and a Williams free pass in the first, a Rock two-out double to center field in the second and a Baylor walk, a Goodwin hit by pitch and a Williams base on balls to load the bases with one out in the third were all wasted.
Baylor had a base hit to right field with one out in the eighth against Roman Phansalkar. Jackson Hornung had the last Vancouver hit with a single to right off Philips with one out in the ninth.
The Canadians and Dust Devils go at it again in a 7:05 first pitch at Gesa Stadium on Saturday. Ryan Jennings gets the ball for Vancouver. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV. Chris Georges has the call over the local airwaves. Doug Taylor has the call on the interwebs.
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