The Vancouver Canadians have dropped a season-high four games in a row as the Everett AquaSox handed them a 2-1 defeat at Everett Memorial Stadium Wednesday.
The AquaSox touched up Adam Kloffenstein for a first inning run. Zach DeLoach tripled to left on an 0-2 pitch to begin the game and would score on a one-out Austin Shenton ground ball to second.
Everett scored again in the second when Kloffenstein threw eight consecutive balls to put Kaden Polcovich and Jack Larsen on base to start the frame. Cade Marlowe plated Polcovich with a base hit to left to make it 2-0 Frogs. Marlowe was thrown out trying for a double on a 7-3-1-4-1 putout.
Vancouver’s lone run happened in the seventh inning. John Aiello lined a double to left to greet Everett reliever Igor Januario and got to jog over to third on a balk. Rafael Lantigua grounded out to second to allow Aiello to cross the plate.
C-Notes
It was a frustrating night for the Canadians hitters as they were held to five hits. Luis De Los Santos singled off AquaSox starter and Kingston, Ontario native Matt Brash on the second pitch of the game but was tagged out on the back end of a 3-6 double play from Tanner Morris.
That was the first of a few missed opportunities on the evening as Vancouver was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Among the opportunities:
- Lantigua singling and stealing second base with two out in the second but did not score.
- Spencer Horwitz had a two-out double in the fourth but was stranded.
- Morris walked, went to second on a one-out grounder by Ryan Gold and advanced to third on a balk but was kept 90 feet away to end the sixth.
The best chance for the C’s to score came in the ninth when Gold and Horwitz drew walks to begin the ninth off Kyle Hill. Aiello hit into a 6-4-3 double play that advanced Gold to third before Lantigua lined out to center to end the game.
Eric Rivera had a two-out base hit in the fifth inning. Morris, Eden, Gold and Horwitz all drew bases on balls. Horwitz is tied for the High-A West lead in walks with 38.
It was also a tough night on the mound for Kloffenstein. He came up an out short of five innings, giving up two runs on five hits, five walks and a hit by pitch. His strikeout total was four and his groundout total was seven. Kloffenstein had at least one baserunner to deal with every inning. He helped out his own cause by throwing out Larsen trying to score after a Larsen comebacker to the mound. Kloffenstein also escaped a bases loaded situation when De Los Santos threw out Larsen at the plate on a DeLoach grounder to short.
Adrian Hernandez stranded a two-out Polcovich triple and a Larsen walk by striking out Marlowe to end the fifth inning. He overcame a double and a walk with three strikeouts over two scoreless innings. Justin Maese stranded a runner for Hernandez and pitched 1-1/3 perfect innings with one punch out.
Aiello made his Vancouver debut after coming off the injured list. Wearing #7, the 2018 14th round pick by Toronto out of Wake Forest began his pro career with the Bluefield Blue Jays that season and bypassed Vancouver for the Lansing Lugnuts in 2019. Heading into his debut, the 6-foot-4 Aiello carried a .260 batting average with nine home runs over 90 games so far in his organizational tenure. The 24 year-old third baseman from Lansdale, Pennsylvania was a college of teammate of 2017 C’s pitcher Donnie Sellers who remains on the 60-day injured list.
There will be a postseason after all in minor league baseball. According to MiLB.com, there will be a best-of-five series at the Double-A, High-A and Low-A West levels between the top two teams in each league. If the season were to end today, Vancouver would find itself on the outside looking in. The third place C’s are six games back of Everett for second place in the High-A West and six-and-a-half off the pace of league-leading Eugene.
The 26-24 Canadians—who have reached the 50-game mark of their 120-game season—look to begin the second half on a winning note with Luis Quinones on the mound. He’ll face Levi Stoudt who is set to throw the first pitch at 7:05 pm. The game will be on CanadiansBaseball.com.
C’s Alumni Report
The Buffalo Bisons got by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 10-9 Thursday
- Rowdy Tellez (2014) – 2/4, RBI
- Cullen Large (2017) – 2/4, RF Assist
- Logan Warmoth (2017) – 1/4, HR, 3 RBI (homer gave Bisons the lead for good)
Cavan Biggio (2016) had two hits, a walk and a run batted in and Riley Adams (2017) was 1-for-3 but Toronto dropped a 9-7 decision to Seattle in 10 innings. Tayler Saucedo (2015) struck out one in two-thirds of a scoreless inning.
Tim Locastro (2014) was hit by a pitch for the ninth time this year in Arizona’s 7-4 loss to St. Louis.
Kevin Pillar (2011) doubled in three at-bats and scored one of the New York Mets’ two runs in their 20-2 loss to Atlanta.
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