The Vancouver Canadians were unable to clinch a series victory over the Spokane Indians after a 5-2 setback at Avista Stadium Saturday.
Spokane got to Sam Ryan for a run in the first. Isaac Collins singled to short and Aaron Schunk followed with a base hit. Schunk was caught stealing second on a 2-4-6-3 putout but a Willie MacIver groundout to short scored Collins to give the home side the lead.
Brandon Eisert took over for Ryan in the fifth and ran into trouble by issuing a leadoff walk to Hunter Stovall before wild pitching him over to second. Stovall would steal third with one away and scored on a groundout by Daniel Cope to provide Spokane with a 2-0 advantage.
Eisert encountered more problems in the sixth as Collins homered for the third time this series to start the inning. A Schunk double and MacIver home run increased the Spokane lead to five.
After coming up empty against Nick Bush over the first six innings, Vancouver broke the shutout against Boby Johnson in the seventh. Tanner Morris reached first on a base on balls and was doubled over to third by Luis De Los Santos when he found the gap in left-center field. Ronny Brito produced a one-out sacrifice fly to score Morris with the C’s first run. Decolati made a nice leaping catch to rob Brito of extra bases.
Vancouver picked up another run against Derrik Watson in the eighth. Philip Clarke watched four pitches miss the strike zone and he made it to third on a Cameron Eden double to left. A Spencer Horwitz grounder to first brought Clarke across the plate for the final run of the game.
C-Notes
Vancouver’s best chance to tie the game came in the second inning. Horwitz had a leadoff single before a two-out base hit to left by Sebastian Espino and a Brito walk loaded the bases but D.J. Neal grounded out to second.
Eden had a two-out double in the third but that was all for Vancouver against Bush as he retired the last 10 hitters he faced.
P.J. Poulin set down the side in order in the ninth as Spokane hurlers retired the side in order in five of the nine innings.
Ryan retired eight in a row at one point over his four innings. He stranded a two-out double by Michael Toglia and a Clarke passed ball in the fourth to end his outing. Despite taking the loss, Ryan did a good job keeping the ball down by recording eight groundouts and walking nobody. He struck out one and allowed just a run on three hits.
Eisert struck out three over three innings but he was ripped for four runs on three hits—including two homers—and walking one. Will McAffer sandwiched a flout with a couple of strikeouts in a perfect eighth.
The C’s had just five hits in this one, three of them for extra bases as Eden doubled twice and De Los Santos doubled once. Horwitz and Espino had the other base hits. Clarke, Morris and Brito walked once.
If nothing else, this game will be remembered for one reason only. No hit by pitches! Spokane still leads that category in the series 8-5.
Paxton Schultz will go to the hill as the Canadians try again to clinch a series victory. First pitch is set for 5:09 p.m. on CanadiansBaseball.com.
C’s Alumni Report
Congratulations to Tayler Saucedo (2015) as he got the call that he is going to the bigs. The lefty from Honolulu posted a 2-1 record with a 2.20 earned run average with Triple-A Buffalo, striking out 21 and walking only two in 16-1/3 innings. Saucedo was 3-1 with a 2.52 ERA with Vancouver in 2015. He will wear #52 for the Blue Jays.
Patrick Murphy (2016) struck out three over two perfect innings and Logan Warmoth (2017) singled, walked twice and stole a base but Buffalo lost to Scranton-Wilkes/Barre 6-4 in 10 innings. Cullen Large (2017) had an RBI double and Richard Ureña (2014) singled, walked and scored a run. Dany Jiménez (2017) had a scoreless frame of one-hit ball with a strikeout.
Chavez Young (2017) had two base hits in his return from the injured list and Brody Rodning (2017) struck out both batters he faced and stranded the bases loaded to earn the win as New Hampshire held off Portland 4-2. Brock Lundquist (2017) singled, walked and scored a run, Otto Lopez (2018) had a sacrifice fly, Samad Taylor (2017) drew a pinch-hit intentional walk in the ninth and scored a run and Nick Podkul (2018) walked and took one for the team. Jon Harris (2015) gave up a homer but struck out one in the ninth to get his first professional save.
Ryan Sloniger (2019) hit a two-run home run, walked three times and scored four runs as Dunedin destroyed Lakeland 17-2.
Cavan Biggio (2016) homered, doubled and single and Rowdy Tellez (2014) singled and walked as Toronto bounced Boston 7-2. Tim Mayza (2014) stranded a runner by retiring the only batter he faced.
Andy Burns (2011) singled in his first at-bat with the Los Angeles Dodgers for his first major league hit and also drew a walk. He moved from second base to make his MLB debut on the mound that did not go quite as well as the Dodgers were smoked by Texas 12-1.
Marcus Stroman (2012) put together 6-1/3 innings of one-run ball on six hits and a walk and whiffed eighth for his sixth win of the year as the New York Mets downed San Diego 4-1.
Jon Berti (2011) had a walk in Miami’s 4-2 loss to Atlanta.
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