It was a tough day for Wilfri Aleton (#25) on the mound as he is visited by second baseman Kevin Vicuna.
The Vancouver Canadians were unable to complete a three-game sweep of the Tri-City Dust Devils as they lost 7-3 at Nat Bailey Stadium Sunday afternoon. The C’s head into the All-Star break with a record of 3-4 in the season’s second half.
Wilfri Aleton got Robbie Podorsky to ground out to begin the game but Justin Lopez hit a double past center fielder Reggie Pruitt before Kelvin Melean drew a walk. Luis Asuncion doubled down the right field line to score Lopez but Melean was thrown out at home plate on a 9-4-2 play as Matt Morgan applied the tag after the relay began with a throw from Brandon Polizzi to the cutoff man Kevin Vicuna. A passed ball allowed Asuncion to reach third and he was joined on the basepaths by Tre Carter, who walked and stole second but Aleton limited the damage with a popup to Kacy Clemens in foul territory for the third out.
Nick Margevicius viciously set down the C’s in order in the first with strikeouts of Pruitt and Vicuna and a popup to second by Logan Warmoth.
Luis Anguizola doubled off Aleton to start the second and moved up another 90 feet on a single by Chandler Seagle. Aldemar Burgos flied out to Norberto Obeso in shallow left field to keep the runners at the corners but Podorsky loaded the bases by working the count to ball four. Aleton got Lopez to pop out to second with the infield fly rule coming into effect for the second out. Despite four walks and three hits to that point, Aleton was one good pitch away from getting out of the inning but that did not happen. Melean jumped on a 3-1 pitch and doubled to left to clear the bases and give the Dust Devils a 4-0 lead. Aleton would pick Melean at second to end the frame.
Three straight groundouts induced by Margevicius sent the Dust Devils back up to bat in the third. Ascunsion led off with a single and—after a popup to third by Carter—moved to second on a passed ball. Aleton got his first strikeout of the game by whiffing Almanzar but a single to right by Anguizola and an infield single by Seagle to second would score Asuncion despite a tremendous effort by Vicuna who ranged well to his right but he could not get enough on the throw to retire Seagle. Meantime, Magevicius ran his consecutive outs streak to nine as he struck out Polizzi to wrap up the third.
Brayden Bouchey kept Tri-City off the scoreboard with a shutout fourth inning.
Brayden Bouchey was summoned from the C’s bullpen to begin the fourth and he hit Podorsky with a pitch. Lopez hit a grounder to second where Vicuna tried a swipe tag to get Podorsky at second but he lost the handle on the ball, allowing Podorsky to make it to third and Lopez to get to first. Melean’s fly ball to right was not deep enough for Podorsky to tag up and score and the inning would end with Bouchey striking out Ascunsion and Morgan throwing out Lopez trying to steal second.
David Jacob crosses home plate after a two-run home run in the fourth.
Pruitt got Vancouver’s first hit with a base hit up the middle to start the fourth. Pruitt would steal second base after Vicuna flied out to right and reached third on a groundout to short by Warmoth. Pruitt would be able to jog home when David Jacob jacked one over the fence in right field for a two-run home run to put Vancouver on the board. Clemens kept the inning going with a base hit to center and Bryan Lizardo reached base on a throwing error by Almanzar at third. Morgan then singled to score Clemens and made it to second on the throw home as the potential tying run as Lizardo went to third. With a chance to tie the game, Obeso was caught looking at strike three to leave Lizardo and Morgan on base.
Bobby Eveld was the next pitcher out of the bullpen for the C’s and he could not hold Tri-City at bay in the top of the fifth. A one-out walk to Almanzar was followed by a strikeout of Anguizola but he plunked Seagle before Burgos dropped one in front of Obeso in left to score Almanzar to increase the Dust Devils lead to 6-3. Podorsky walked to load the bases and force Eveld to leave the game. Angel Alicea made his C’s debut and retired Lopez on a groundout to second to leave the bases drunk. All the C’s could get in their half of the fifth was a two-out base hit by Vicuna.
Angel Alicea pitched two innings in his Northwest League debut.
Alicea returned for the sixth and looked to have things under control with a Melean flyout and an Ascunsion groundout. That all changed when Carter tripled to right and scored on an Almanzar double and he made it to third on an error by Vicuna to give Tri-City a 7-3 advantage. Fred Schlichtholz kept the good times rolling for the Dust Devils with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth.
Jake Fishman turned in Vancouver’s best pitching line with 2-1/3 shutout innings.
The seventh started with a base hit by Burgos but he was thrown out trying to steal second by Morgan. Podorsky flied out but Alicea gave up a single to Lopez and that led to another pitching change as lefty Jake Fishman arrived on the scene and put out the fire by retiring Melean on a flyout to center. The C’s could not do anything against Dauris Valdez as he set the tone with a strikeout of Morgan to retire the side in order.
Fishman put up a zero in the eighth as he stranded Almanzar at second after an infield single to short and a wild pitch. Elias Torres sat down Pruitt and with a strikeout and also got Vicuna swinging but he made it to first on a wild pitch. Warmoth was then grazed by a pitch before Jacob struck out but Clemens loaded the bases by drawing a walk. Lizardo had a chance to tie the game with one big swing of the lumber. Seagle—the Dust Devils catcher—thought Torres got Lizardo looking at strike three as he pumped his fist and began to run toward the dugout. However, umpire Chris Presley-Murphy did not agree as Lizardo had a new life at two balls and two strikes. Lizardo hit one well to left field but it stayed in the park as it wound up in the glove of Podorsky to quash that threat.
Fishman struck out Seagle to start the ninth and gave up a single and stolen base to Burgos but he retired Podorsky and Lopez on fly balls to give the C’s one last crack at it. Jordan Guerrero would slam the door by striking out Morgan and Obeso swinging before catching pinch-hitter Cullen Large looking at a 100-MPH fastball to end the game.
Logan Warmoth was hit by a pitch to extend his on-base streak to 13 games.
Vancouver had just five hits and only Clemens was on base twice with a hit and a walk and Jacob had the lone extra-base hit with his second home run of the season. Pruitt also reached the 20-stolen base mark in his third try at the milestone. Warmoth saw his 12-game hitting streak but his on-base streak is up to 13 after taking one for the team. The C’s were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left two men on.
Aleton allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and three walks with just one strikeout. Bouchey struck out one in his one-hit inning. Eveld had a strikeout but gave up a run on a hit and two walks over two-thirds of an inning. Alicea allowed one run despite four hits and a walk over two frames. Jake Fishman gave up two hits but struck out one over 2-1/3 scoreless frames. Bouchey and Eveld also hit a batter as the C’s staff was roughed up for 16 hits and six walks with just four strikeouts.
Radar Gun Rundown
Wilfri Aleton was measured at 75-93 MPH on the radar gun. His lone strikeout was on a pitch that clocked in at 80. Brayden Bouchey was in the high 80’s during his inning of work while Bobby Eveld reached 93. Angel Alicea touched 97 once but was at 80-90 for the majority of his outing. Jake Fishman was at 78-93 with a strikeout at 80.
C-Notes
The Vancouver Canadians celebrate the Hall of Fame induction of Tim Raines.
The Vancouver Canadians paid tribute to Montreal Expos legend Tim Raines by congratulating him on his Hall of Fame induction. Raines is currently an outfield and baserunning coach in the Toronto Blue Jays system.
The scoreboard provided even more good news from Toronto.
A Steve Pearce grand-slam home run gave the Toronto Blue Jays a come-from-behind win over Los Angeles Sunday.
Loving these uni’s. 🔥 #Bisons30 pic.twitter.com/fZVz94CGx9
— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) July 30, 2017
In Buffalo, 2011 C’s infielder Jon Berti and 2012 outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. had two hits apiece as the Bisons were victorious over Louisville. Romeon Fields (2014) had a single, walk and his 29th stolen base of the year. His 2014 teammate Tim Mayza collected his first Triple-A victory with three shutout inning. Wil Browning (2012) finished up with two goose eggs. Francisco Rios (2015) and Carlos Ramirez (2012) each pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings to help New Hampshire outlast Binghamton in extra innings.
What a night! Jimy Kelly threw out the 1st pitch to his relative Juan Kelly & was met after at home plate by his 1st manager, Rocket Wheeler pic.twitter.com/4KVuv0N2Yg
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) July 31, 2017
21 hits, 17 runs, 4 HR for the Blue Jays in a 17-1 win over the Florida Fire Frogs.
Recap: https://t.co/fWaIQqeVX8Photos: Jim Goins pic.twitter.com/JVIzWCPN6A
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) July 31, 2017
It wasn’t just the offense clicking tonight. SP Josh DeGraaf threw 7.0 scoreless to improve to 5-1 with a 1.98 as a starter with Dunedin! pic.twitter.com/ITx3qVI9mw
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) July 31, 2017
Blue Jays are 7-3 over their last 10! Over that span, D.J. Davis has hit .387 and scored 10 runs, driven in 6, and stolen 4 bases. pic.twitter.com/yOfmvKexv2
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) July 30, 2017
Cavan Biggio (2016) was 4-for-6 with a home run and three runs batted in, Juan Kelly (2015) drove in six with a three-hit day that included a home run, 2015 teammate Connor Panas went yard with a single, a walk and three RBI and Dunedin released the kraken on the Florida Fire Fogs. D.J. Davis (2012) homered and walked and Michael De La Cruz contributed two hits to Dunedin’s 21-hit attack. Josh DeGraaf gave up just one run over seven innings to improve to 5-1. Zach Jackson worked a scoreless ninth.
Edward Olivares collected his 49th and 50th XBH, and the Lugnuts won 7-5 in a matinee with an unusual finish. RECAP: https://t.co/RxucISJtJG pic.twitter.com/18wH7MSNxN
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) July 30, 2017
Mitch Nay (2013) had a double, a sac fly and four RBI while Nash Knight (2016) singled, walked and stole a base to help Lansing defeat Great Lakes. Mike Ellenbest (2016) gave up three home runs but they were all solo shots and he posted a 6-1 strikeout/walk total as he pitched five innings for the win. Yonardo Herdenez—called up to Lansing from Vancouver recently—gave up a solo dinger over 2-2/3 innings and Jared Carkuff (2016-2017) gave up a run but recorded the final four outs for the save.
The Bluefield Blue Jays were winners over Princeton thanks to 2017 Canadian Yorman Rodriguez socking his first homer of the year as part of a three-hit game.
C’s Fast Forward
The Canadians will have the next three days off—except for catcher Riley Adams and relievers William Ouellette and Orlando Pascual as that trio is heading to Hillsboro, Oregon for the Northwest League-Pioneer League All-Star Game Tuesday night. The C’s All-Stars will be joined by the rest of the squad in Hillsboro Thursday for the start of a five-game series at Ron Tonkin Field. Those games can be heard at CanadiansBaseball.com.
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