The Vancouver Canadians continue to put a dent in the playoff hopes of the Everett AquaSox as the C’s came away with a 9-7 victory at Everett Memorial Stadium Friday afternoon.
Everett picked up the game’s first run in the first inning when Cade Marlowe mashed a one-out home run over the right field fence off Andrew Bash.
The AquaSox got to Bash for another long ball as Joseph Rosa‘s three-run round-tripper brought in a Dariel Gomez leaddoff double and a one-out walk to Justin Lavey.
Vancouver would tie it with a homer of their own to start the second as Orelvis Martinez took Everett reliever Tim Elliott deep to right on a 3-2 pitch.
The C’s would make a dent into Everett’s three-run lead in the third. Eric Rivera led off with a double to left and Zac Cook singled up the middle to put runners on the corners. Cook was doubled off first when Rafael Lantigua lined into a 4-3 double play but an error by Jose Caballero at short on a ground ball by Will Robertson scored Rivera with the C’s second run. Spencer Horwitz then doubled to right to score Robertson and make it a one-run game.
Monty’s Mounties would tie it and go ahead in the fifth as Lantigua homered to left-center with one out and Horwitz followed suit with a solo shot to right-center to make it 5-4 for the visitors.
The AquaSox would score two runs of their own in the fifth to move back in front. Alex Nolan walked Connor Hoover and Marlowe with one out and they came in to score on a double by Caballero.
The Canadians would respond in the seventh. Cook began the inning with a double to right off Ben Onyshko and stole third base. Robertson drew a walk and Horwitz came up with a single to left to drive in Cook with the tying run. A wild pitch moved Robertson and Horwitz up 90 feet and Martinez walked to load the bases. Nolan Hoffman relieved Onyshko but his throwing error resulted in Robertson being able to score. Trevor Schwecke‘s 6-4 fielder’s choice scored Horwitz to give Vancouver an 8-6 lead.
Cook gave Vancouver a three-run bulge when he opened the eighth inning with a home run to right-center off Hoffman.
The AquaSox got to Jol Concepion in the ninth by loading the bases with one out. Rosa singled with one out and Hoover and Marlowe walked to load the bases. After losing Marlowe on a 3-2 pitch, Concepion walked Caballero to score Rosa. Thomas Ruwe took over in relief and after getting ahead of Labrada with a swinging strike one, Labrada hit a fly ball to right that Rivera ran down and he was able to throw it to Martinez to double off Marlowe at second for a 9-6 game-ending double play.
C-Notes
Franklin Van Gurp got the one-inning start for Everett and he retired the side in order before giving way to Elliott.
Schwecke stole his first base of the year after reaching base on a 3-6 fielder’s choice that eliminated a Luis De Los Santos leadoff walk in the fourth inning. Andres Guerra and Rivera struck out to leave Schwecke at second.
After Schwecke’s RBI fielder’s choice in the seventh, Guerra kept the inning going with a two-out base hit to right to load the bases but Rivera grounded out to first to conclude the rally.
Horwitz had a two-out double in the eighth but Martinez lined out to right to end the inning.
Horwitz had four hits on the day, including his 10th home run of the year and a pair of doubles to give him 26. His hitting streak is now up to 22 games, one ahead of Tanner Morris who had the day off. Morris also has a 30-game on-base streak on the go.
Cook was a triple shy of the cycle as he homered for the seventh time this year and added a stolen base. Martinez was on base three times as he walked twice to go with his ninth homer of the year. Lantigua also has nine dingers on the year.
Bash gave up two home runs out of four hits resulting in four runs total over three innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Nolan got his first win of the season by limiting the Frogs to two runs over five frames. The Burlington, Ontario native yielded two hits and four walks but struck out three to go with seven outs on the ground. He sat down 11 of the last 13 hitters he faced.
Concepion got one out in the ninth before coughing up a run on a single and three walks.
Ruwe earned his first save with Vancouver by getting the 9-6 game-ending double play.
Vancouver has 50 wins on the season against 56 losses and have knocked Everett a half-game out of first place behind Spokane and in a second-place tie with Eugene for the time being pending Friday night’s action.
The Canadians and AquaSox go at it again Saturday in a 7:05 pm start on CanadiansBaseball.com. Sem Robberse gets the start for Vancouver. Jimmy Joyce goes for Everett.
Outfielder Justin Ammons will have a new number to wear when he makes his debut with the Canadians. He was originally assigned number 28 but will now wear number 15, the same number pitcher C.J. Van Eyk wore. That’s a pretty good indication that Van Eyk will not be back this season. The Blue Jays second-rounder from 2020 was placed on the seven-day injured list after pitching two perfect innings August 26 against Hillsboro.
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