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A two-run home run by Griffin Conine scored Otto Lopez (right) to turn the tide in the sixth inning against Everett Wednesday.

C's RecapEverett’s defence and bullpen sprang a leak and the Vancouver Canadians took full advantage as they annihilated the AquaSox 10-3 at Nat Bailey Stadium Wednesday night. Vancouver now leads the second-half North Division standings by two games after Tri-City knocked off Spokane at Gesa Stadium.

Everett scored the game’s first three runs in the top of the third against Juan Nunez. Ryan Garcia and Charlie McConnell strung together one-out singles before Josh Stowers took one to the center field wall to score Garcia. Bobby Honeyman drew a walk on four pitches before Cal Raleigh ripped one off the wall in right field to bring in McConnell and Honeyman. Raleigh was thrown out by Griffin Conine from right field after sliding past the second base bag. Shortstop Jesus Severino applied the tag just in time to get Raleigh. Connor Kopach singled and stole second before Matt Sanders lined one up the middle but the sinking liner was caught by Nick Podkul right over the second base bag to end the inning.

Vancouver got their first run against Everett starter Ivan Fortunato in the bottom of the third. Christopher Bec watched four pitches miss the strike zone to get on base and would get to third on a wayward pickoff throw by Fortunato. Bec caught a huge break as Fortunato had him picked off. AquaSox manager Jose Moreno argued that Bec should only have been awarded second base but was given an extra 90 feet instead. Podkul picked up Bec from third with a run-scoring grounder to short to make it a 3-1 game.

The C’s fortunes would change in the sixth when its offence sprang into action. Otto Lopez worked his way aboard with a leadoff walk against lefthander Grant Spranger who had entered the game with 7-1/3 scoreless innings and a 11-1 strikeout/walk total.  In a lefty-on-lefty matchup, Conine would obliterate his triple-zero earned run average by blasting an 82 mile-per-hour offering to right-center field to tie the game at 3-3.

Spranger retired the next two hitters in a row and it looked like things were settling down for the former Creighton Bluejay but his defence let him down in a big way. Yorman Rodriguez hit a ground ball to third but did not run right away, perhaps thinking the ball was foul. Despite the late start, Honeyman’s throw to first missed the mark and allowed Rodriguez to get on base. Honeyman may have thought the ball was foul too and did not throw it right away. Honeyman’s error was followed by another error on the left side of the infield by Kopach at short as he mishandled a grounder by Severino. Brandon Polizzi drew a walk to load the bases to set the table for Bec and he took a 1-2 pitch up the middle to score Rodriguez and Severino to put Vancouver in the lead. Devin Sweet took over for Spranger on the mound and saw Bec steal second base before Podkul drew a base on balls to load up the bases again. Sweet would prevent further damage as Lopez’s second at-bat of the inning resulted in a groundout to second.

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Christopher Bec stands at first base after his go-ahead two-run single in the sixth base.

The Canadians would add to their lead in the seventh when Jake Brodt doubled to right and got to third when Kopach made another throwing error that allowed Tanner Kirwer to reach base. Rodriguez would cash in Brodt and Kirwer with a double to left to make it 7-3 Vancouver. After getting to third on the throw from left, Rodriguez tagged up and scored on a Severino sacrifice fly.

J.T. Salter relieved Sweet in the eighth and things continued to go sour for Everett. Podkul singled to left and Lopez reached on an infield single to short before Conine lined one to right to plate Podkul. A two-out walk by Kirwer forced Salter’s exit and Jamal Wade came in from the bullpen. He walked Rodriguez to bring in Lopez for Vancouver’s 10th run.

Nick Allgeyer pitched two shutout innings to start this one for Vancouver. Troy Miller pitched two more scoreless frames. Will McAffer earned the win with 1-2/3 shutout innings. Orlando Pascual got four outs without allowing a run before Cobi Johnson put up the final zero in the ninth.

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Will McAffer picked up his team-leading seventh victory of the season Wednesday.

Radar Gun Rundown

radar_gun_iconAllgeyer recorded his lone strikeout at 91 miles per hour. He touched 92 and also threw offerings from 82-84.

Nunez was up to 98 and down to 76, Miller hit 92 and was as low as 72, McAffer was around 75-77 and up to 92, Pascual had two strikeouts at 92 and 83 and Johnson had a strikeout at 94 and was up to 95 and 98 and down to 85.

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Nick Allgeyer got the first six outs and did not give up a run against Everett Wednesday.

C-Notes

C's NotesAllgeyer faced the minimum six batters in his two-inning start. He stopped a one-out rally by getting Raleigh on a 4-6-3 double play ball to erase a Honeyman single in the first. The second inning saw Allgeyer retire the side in order.

Miller got a double play from Nick Rodriguez to eradicate a Ryan Ramiz bunt single to help him face just three batters in the fourth. The fifth was a challenge for him when he walked McConnell and Stowers before handing out a two-out pass to Kopach. Miller found his way out of the jam by bracketing the Kopach walk with a strikeout of Raleigh before getting Sanders to ground out to short.

McAffer struck out Ramiz as part of a perfect sixth and ran down a bunt popup just on the fair side of the first base line to retire McConnell to start the seventh. He walked Stowers before retiring Honeyman on a fly ball to right. Pascual came in to face Raleigh and got the slugging catcher to fly out to center.

Like Miller, Pascual danced with danger in the eighth by walking Kopach with nobody out and issuing two more bases on balls to Rodriguez and Garcia with two away but Pascual got McConnell to go down swinging. Johnson walked Raleigh with two away before sitting down Kopach to end the game.

Allgeyer struck out one over two scoreless innings of one-hit ball. Nunez was knocked around for three runs on four hits and two walks in the third. Miller overcame a hit and three walks and struck out one over two shutout frames. McAffer struck out one over 1-2/3 innings of one-hit ball. Pascual walked three but whiffed two in 1-1/3 shutout frames. Johnson had two punchouts to offset a walk in a zero-run ninth. In total, C’s pitchers struck out seven but walked 10 batters.

Lopez was hit by a Fortunato pitch with two outs in the first and stole second but he was left stranded. Another opportunity was wasted by Vancouver in the second when Kirwer doubled with one out and Rodriguez singled him over to third  but Severino grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

The C’s came knocking again in the fifth when Rodriguez dropped a high fly ball to shallow center field for a base hit to begin the inning. Polizzi walked to get Rodriguez into scoring position but Bec and Podkul grounded out as Fortunato stumped the Vancouver offence for the fourth time in five innings.

Brodt was caught by surprise on an unassisted putout by Raleigh behind the plate in the sixth. He thought the ball rolled foul just a few feet in front of him but it appeared to stay fair and Raleigh quickly pounced on the ball and tagged Brodt for the out.

Bec was shaken up in the ninth behind the plate in when he blocked a 3-2 pitch in the dirt from Johnson. The ball hit him in a most sensitive area but he was able to continue. Raleigh drew the walk but did not seem to show much compassion for his catching counterpart as he just trotted down to first.

Rodriguez had three hits and knocked in three for Vancouver while Conine had two knocks and three RBI. Bec, Podkul, Lopez and Kirwer posted a ‘1’ in the ‘H’ and ‘BB’ columns with Bec stealing two bases and Lopez swiping one. Brodt had a double, Polizzi walked twice and Severino contributed a sac fly. The C’s were 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position with 10 men stranded on base. They compiled 10 hits, seven walks and a hit by pitch while striking out nine times.

Conine talked to Rob Fai on TSN 1040 during the post-game show about his home run.

“I looked at the scouting report. It was kind of a tough lefty and he had pretty good numbers coming in and hadn’t given up a run. It said he threw more sliders than fastballs to lefties so that was definitely something that I was looking for going up there. When it got to two strikes, I knew it was going to be the pitch that he would try to put me away with so I just looked for one that was up and I got one.”

The C’s and Frogs square off in the second game of this series Thursday. Jose Espada (3-6, 4.47) will get the start for Vancouver. Lefthander Michael Plassmeyer (0-1, 2.05) goes for Everett. Pregame show on TSN 1040 starts at 6:00 pm and Rob Fai will have the play-by-play at 7:05 pm. The game is also available on CanadiansBaseball.com.

C-Tweets

cs-tweetCongratulations to a trio of 2016 Vancouver Canadians for being selected to play in the Arizona Fall League. Second baseman Cavan Biggio and relievers Zach Jackson and Jackson McClelland will suit up for the Surprise Saguaros. McClelland also spent time with the C’s in 2015.

Those three will join Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Shawn Morimando on the Surprise roster.

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Published by Niall O'Donohoe

My name is Niall O’Donohoe and I am an avid follower of baseball. My blog beginnings began in 2007 with Batter’s Box under the alias #2JBrumfield. The blog formerly known as Niall On Baseball, C’s Plus Baseball strives to deliver plus coverage of the C’s through photos, observations and interviews of the players striving to make it to the major leagues. If you like what you see here, please spread the word about CsPlusBaseball.ca through your favourite social media platform. This blog began just before the C's championship season in 2017 and the goal is to deliver awesome content about Canada’s only affiliated professional minor league baseball club. Thanks a million for being here!

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