The Vancouver Canadians dropped their second straight game in Boise, losing 5-1 to the Hawks at Boise Memorial Stadium Tuesday.
Boise got on the board first when Yorvis Torrealba singled with one out against Juan Diaz and pulled into second on a throwing error by Adrian Ramos in center field. After a Trey Jacobs infield single to first, Torrealba scored on a Bryant Quijada groundout.
Vancouver drew even when Yorman Rodriguez connected for his fourth home run of the season, a one-out solo shot off Alfredo Garcia in the third inning.
Boise grabbed the lead for good in the fifth inning when Aaron Schunk singled home an Ezequiel Tovar double with one away. Michael Toglia chased Diaz from the game with a walk. Grant Townsend took over on the hill for the C’s but a passed ball by Jesus Lopez and a wild pitch allowed Schunk to score. A sacrifice fly by Joe Aielts to score Toglia increased the Boise lead to three.
The Hawks added one more against Mike Pascoe in the eighth. A Schunk single, a Toglia walk and an Aielts groundout put runners at second and third. Pascoe was called for a balk and that resulted in Schunk crossing the plate for the game’s final run.
The Hawks bullpen trio of Boby Johnson, Braxton Lorenzini and Colton Hathcock provided perfect innings or relief for Garcia to finish this one out.
C-Notes
The tone was set for Vancouver in the top of the first inning. Trevor Schwecke singled to start the game and another single by Lopez sandwiched a Rodriguez walk to give the C’s a bases-loaded situation with nobody out. They could not cash in as Will Robertson and McGregory Contreras struck out swinging and Brett Wright hit a soft liner too short.
The only other good opportunity for Vancouver to score was in the fifth inning when Schwecke singled, swiped second and went to third on a wild pitch with one out but Rodriguez and Lopez both grounded out.
Robertson singled to start the sixth but he was erased on a double play grounder by Contreras. That was the last time a Canadians hitter was on base as the last 11 men went down in order.
Diaz managed to escape a pair of second-and-third, nobody out jams in the third and fourth innings. He picked off Tovar at second to short-circuit the Hawks rally in the third and got an 8-3 double play off the bat of. In the fourth inning, Ramos started an 8-5-3 double play after a Vladimir Dilone fly ball to end that Boise threat
Contreras earned an assist in left field by cutting down Bladimir Restituyo at third base when he tried to stretch out his double into a triple to end the sixth.
Townsend returned to the mound for the first time since July 11. Though both of his inherited runners scored, he pitched two shutout innings of relief and struck out a pair.
Left-hander Randy Pondler was promoted to the Lansing Lugnuts and made his Midwest League debut Tuesday. The 22 year-old Nicaraguan earned the save with three innings of one-run ball in Lansing’s 5-1 win over Lake County. Pondler was 3-3 with a 7.83 ERA over seven relief appearances with the C’s this season.
Returning to Vancouver is right-hander Juan Nunez. He began the year with four shutout innings over two appearances for the C’s before heading to Michigan. With the Lugnuts, Nunez went 0-1 with a 6.91 ERA over 10 appearances out of the bullpen. He has worn #37 over the last three years with Vancouver but that number is now occupied by Luis Quinones.
The Canadians go with Nick Fraze on the mound for the third game of the series in Boise. Jeffri Ocando is set to throw the first pitch for the Hawks at 6:15 pm Pacific Time. The game can be heard on Sportsnet 650 and CanadiansBaseball.com.
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