The Vancouver Canadians turned the tables on the Tri-City Dust Devils with a big inning of their own as they picked up a 9-4 win at Ron Tonkin Field Thursday.
The Canadians got down to business right away in the first inning. Rafael Lantigua doubled to left field on the first pitch from Jake Smith. Lantigua stole third base and Spencer Horwitz worked a one-out walk before stealing second with two away. Luis De Los Santos would send them home with a three-run home run to center field to give Vancouver a 3-0 advantage. Will Robertson followed with a solo dinger to left before Davis Schneider made it back-to-back-to-back homers with a blast to left-center to make it a 5-0 game.
The Dust Devils responded with a long ball of their own in the second inning when Kenyon Jovan belted a two-out solo home run off Paxton Schultz.
Vancouver got its five-run lead back in the third when Horwitz got a leadoff double to center field off Zac Kristofak. He tagged up to go to third on an Orelvis Martinez fly ball to center and then scored on a De Los Santos groundout to third to give the C’s a 6-1 lead.
The Dust Devils scored their second run in the fourth when Kyle Kasser singled to begin the frame. He went to second on a Schultz wild pitch and scored on an Adrian Rondon base hit.
Tri-City made it a two-run game in the fifth when Griffin Mazur singled with one out and scored on a Steven Rivas homer.
The C’s responded with a run off Ivan Armstrong in the seventh. Tanner Morris got things going with a leadoff double and Horwitz heard ball four. A one-out fielder’s choice by De Los Santos put runners at the corners. A balk by Armstrong allowed Morris to trot home to increase Vancouver’s lead to 7-4.
Vancouver finished up with a two-run sixth off Chad Sykes. A lead off walk by Schneider scored on an Andres Guerra double to left field. Rafael Lantigua and Morris walked with one out to load the bases before Horwitz’s sacrifice fly plated Morris with the C’s ninth run.
C-Notes
Zac Cook had a leadoff single against Kristofak in a battle of the Zacs in the second but Cook was caught trying to steal second. Lantigua then drew a walk but was throwing out stealing second after Morris struck out to end the inning.
Guerra got a one-out walk in the fourth but did not advance any further. In the sixth, the C’s left two men on after Horwitz’s sac fly after Martinez flied out to left.
Vancouver tried to stage a two-out rally in the seventh when Schneider singled to right and Guerra walked but Erick Julio struck out Cook.
A golden opportunity for the C’s to reach double digits in the run column came when Lantigua walked to begin the eighth. Morris’ one-out walk and Horwitz’s two-out free pass loaded the bases but Robertson flied out to end the rally.
Schneider led the C’s with a two-hit night, including his seventh homer of the season. De Los Santos slugged his team-leading 12th dinger, drew a walk and drove in four runs.
Lantigua and Horwitz were the on-base leaders with a double and three walks apiece. Lantigua matched his 18th double of the year with his 18th stolen base while Horwitz collected his 20th two-bagger and his fourth swipe.
Guerra was aboard three times with a double and two walks while Morris picked up his 16th double and drew a free pass. Robertson’s homer was his second of the year.
Every Canadians batter had at least one hit except for Martinez as he went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. Vancouver was just 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners.
Schultz had a 1-2-3 first inning and faced one batter over the minimum in the third. Jeremy Arocho picked up a two-out single but was nailed by Guerra when he tried to swipe second. Schultz allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings to go with strikeout and groundout totals of five apiece.
Will McAffer put up a pair of zeros and struck out two to offset a hit and a walk. Hagen Danner and Roither Hernandez faced the minimum in the final two frames with Danner striking out two and Hernandez whiffing one.
The 42-51 Canadians send C.J. Van Eyk to the slope in the fourth game of this six-game set. The Dust Devils will go with Sam Bachman. Game time is 7:05 pm on CanadiansBaseball.com.
C’s Alumni Report
The Bisons lost the first game of their doubleheader in Syracuse 4-3 Thursday.
- Cavan Biggio – 2/4, 2B, R
- Cullen Large – 3/3, 2HR (7, 8)
- Nick Allgeyer – 5.0IP 5H 4R/3ER 2BB 2K
- Nate Pearson – 1.0IP 0R/ER 0BB 1K
The Herd lost to the Mets 2-1 in Game 2.
- Biggio – 1/3
- Richard Ureña – 1/3, 2B (17), RBI
- Logan Warmoth – 0/2, BB, RF Assist
New Hampshire edged Hartford 3-2.
- Tanner Kirwer – 0/3, 2BB, 4SB (17), LF Assist
- Samad Taylor – 2/5, HR (16), 2RBI
- Vinny Capra – 1/4
- Chavez Young – 2/4, 2 2B (11), SB (15)
- Kevin Vicuña – 0/3, BB
- Nick Podkul – 1/4, 2B (5), SB (4)
- Brandon Eisert – 2.0IP 1H 0R/ER 1BB 3K, SV (1)
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