The Vancouver Canadians had to settle for a series victory in Everett. The Conquistadores upended the C’s 6-2 at Everett Memorial Stadium Saturday to salvage the final game of their three-game sweep.
Everett got to Canadians starter Juan Diaz in the third inning when Utah Jones worked a leadoff walk. He would get to third base on a Luis Joseph single but he was nailed at second when Will Robertson started a 9-6 putout. Billy Cooke would burn Diaz with a two-run home run to right-center field to put the home side ahead by two.
Cooke would grill Diaz for a leadoff double in the sixth and he would move to third on a wild pitch. One out later, a Robert Perez sacrifice fly would spell the end of the night for Diaz.
Mike Pascoe got through the sixth and seventh, issuing just one walk in his 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The C’s finally scored in the eighth when Ronny Brito launched a home run to left off Deivy Florido to begin the frame. Tanner Morris followed suit by bouncing a ball off the top of the Judd & Black sign above the manual scoreboard in right-center field before it went over the wall to make it a one-run game. Yorman Rodriguez followed with a fly ball to the deepest part of the park in center field but that one stayed in the yard. Reid Morgan came out of the bullpen and got the next two hitters to keep Everett ahead.
Nicolas Medina took over for Pascoe in the eighth and was a strike away from escaping the inning unscathed. Cooke was involved in the recipe again when he beat out a bunt single to the mound and he scampered home on a Perez double. Austin Shenton then took Medina deep for a two-run home run.
Morgan would pitch a one-hit ninth for the save. Florido earned the win with 5-1/3 innings of relief of George Kirby, who gave up just one hit and struck out two over two shutout innings. Kirby was Seattle’s first round pick in the 2019 MLB draft out of Elon.
Diaz suffered the loss as he came one out shy of a quality start in which he gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out five and had nine groundball outs.
C-Notes
Brito drew a one-out walk in the third but was thrown out trying to steal by Everett catcher Carter Bins. Morris had a single right after but nothing else came of it for the C’s.
Robertson was just a few feet short of homering to center and his blast off the wall got him to second with one away but he was left stranded.
McGregory Contreras started the fifth with a leadoff double to left but he would remain there three batters later.
The sixth inning saw Rodriguez reach first on an fielding error by Joseph at third. Philip Clarke would strike out and Robertson would line out to short for an inning-ending double play. Rodriguez slammed his batting helmet down in frustration after getting doubled off at first.
Contreras would smoke one off the wall in left in the seventh but was held to a long single by Miguel Perez. That two-out single would be wasted.
Cameron Eden had the first hit of the game for the C’s with a single off Kirby in the second inning. The former California Golden Bear fouled a ball off his foot in the seventh and was noticeably hobbling to first after trying to beat out a groundball to short. Dominic Abbadessa replaced Eden defensively in center field in the eighth.
Abbadessa would smash a single to left field off Morgan to begin the ninth but was later forced at second on a Jesus Lopez fielder’s choice. A Contreras fielder’s choice and a Davis Schneider strikeout followed to end the game that took two hours and 28 minutes.
The C’s face the Tri-City Dust Devils for the first time in 2019 with a three-game set at Nat Bailey Stadium. Sunday’s game begins at 5:05 pm. Monday’s and Tuesday’s games start at 7:05 pm. They can be heard on Sportsnet 650 and CanadiansBaseball.com.
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