Justin Dillon had two shutout innings to start Tuesday’s game for Vancouver.
The Tri-City Dust Devils turned the tables on the Vancouver Canadians in the second game of their three-game set. After being shutout Tuesday night, the Dust Devils blanked the C’s 5-0 at Gesa Stadium Wednesday evening.
The C’s started the proceedings with a one-out rally on base hits by Kevin Vicuna and Logan Warmoth but Kacy Clemens rapped into an inning-ending double play against Henry Henry.
Vancouver starter Justin Dillon got into a jam immediately when Kevin Podorsky singled and stole second and moved to third on a bunt single by Justin Lopez. Dillon compounded the situation by throwing a wild pitch that advanced Lopez to second but he struck out Luis Almanzar and Chris Mattison before Kelvin Melean grounded out to third.
After the C’s were retired in order in the top of the second, Dillon matched that with a quick inning of his own that included a strikeout of Greg Lambert.
Vancouver was disposed of quickly in the third when Grayson Huffman took the mound. Huffman walked Podorsky but he picked him off and was able to survive a Lopez single to get out of the frame.
Kevin Vicuna had the only multi-hit game for the C’s Tuesday.
The C’s got their first leadoff man on base in the fourth inning when Kevin Vicuna singled and he got into scoring position with one out on an errant pick off throw by Henry. However, Clemens grounded out and Riley Adams flied out to short-circuit that opportunity.
Brayden Bouchey was brought in for the fourth inning and he struck out Mattison for the first out before getting Melean to ground out. He was able to work around a pair of two-out singles by Luis Anguizola and Lambert in the bottom of the fourth when Jalen Washington popped out to short..
Vancouver staged a two-out rally of their own in the fifth with a two-out walk by Bryan Lizardo and a single by Norberto Obeso but they were left on after Reggie Pruitt flied out.
Zach Logue was called in for the fifth inning and gave up the first run of the game. Burgos led off with a double and was advanced to third by a Podorsky groundout to first. Logue got Lopez to strike out but Almanzar jumped on the first pitch from Logue by singling to right to bring in Burgos. Adams helped Logue out of the inning by throwing out Almanzar trying to steal second.
Dalton Erb relieved Henry at the start of the sixth and retired the C’s in order. Logue faced one batter over the minimum by overcoming a two-out walk to Anguizola thanks to strikeouts of Mattison and Melean.
A Cullen Large single was all Vancouver could get in the seventh while Logue shut down the Dust Devils by retiring three straight, ringing up Podorsky to send the game to the eighth.
Obeso worked his way aboard with a walk before being pushed up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Pruitt. A Vicuna flyout and a Warmoth strikeout left the C’s wanting again with the bats.
Miguel Burgos pitched the eighth for Vancouver and he loaded up the bases on a Lopez double, an Almanzar single and a Mattison walk. He struck out Melean looking but Anguizolan tripled to clear the bases and quadruple the Dust Devils lead. Lambert’s sacrifice fly scored Anguizolan to cap off the rally. Trevor Megill gave up a two-out single to David Jacob in the ninth but that was his only hiccup as he preserved the shutout for the home side.
Vancouver’s woes with runners in scoring position continued as they were hitless in six at-bats, stranding seven base runners. Vicuna had the lone two-hit game and Obeso had a hit and a walk. There were no extra-base hits.
Logue took the hard-luck loss by allowing a run on two hits and a walk but he struck out four over three innings. Dillon had three strikeouts while Bouchey and Dillon had one to give the C’s a 9-3 K/BB total.
C-Notes
Congratulations go out to catcher Riley Adams and relievers Orlando Pascual and William Ouellette for being chosen to represent the Canadians at the Northwest League-Pioneer League All-Star Game in Hillsboro August 1.
Adams has hit .325/.375/.500 with two home runs, 12 doubles and 21 runs batted in over 26 games. Pascual has a 2-0 record with a 1.35 earned run average and has posted a 25-6 strikeout/walk total over 20 innings. Ouellette has won all three of his decisions and recorded five saves in six opportunities. He has struck out 19 batters and walked five over 17-1/3 innings.
It was also announced that Rob Fai will be broadcasting the All-Star event on the Hillsboro airwaves at Rip City Radio 620.
The C’s and Dust Devils square off in the rubber match of their series Thursday night. CanadiansBaseball.com will carry that game beginning at 7:15 pm. Juan Nunez is expected to get the rawhide for Vancouver.
C's Plus Baseball | A Vancouver Canadians Blog 