The Vancouver Canadians split a doubleheader against the Everett AquaSox, winning 4-0 and losing 5-0 at Nat Bailey Stadium Saturday.
In game one, there were zeros on the linescore for the first four-and-a-half innings before the Canadians scored first. A walk by Riley Tirotta and a single to right by Zach Britton against Everett starter Juan Mercedes opened up the fifth. Mercedes would strike out the next two men he faced and looked to be out of the inning when he fielded a comebacker off the bat of Andrés Sosa but he airmailed a throw to first and that allowed Tirotta and Britton to score.
The Canadians tacked on two more runs in the sixth. A leadoff single by Leo Jiménezon on a 3-2 pitch from AquaSox reliever Bryan Pall would be driven home on an Addison Barger home run to right.
Game 2 Recap
The AquaSox scored their first run of the day one batter into the first as Noelvi Marte took Canadians starter Adam Kloffenstein deep to left field.
Marte would cross home plate again two innings later when he got on base with a leadoff walk. He reached second on a Spencer Packard ground ball to the right side of the infield to get Marte into scoring position and Marte would race home when Hugo Cardona mishandled a ball at short off the bat of Charlie Welch.
Everett iced the game with three runs in the sixth against Alex Nolan. A four-pitch walk to Welch, a single up the middle by Alberto Rodriguez past a diving Cardona to center field and a hit by pitch to Dariel Gomez on the elbow loaded up the bases. They would be cleared on a double to left by Justin Lavey that got by a diving Hiraldo at third.
C-Notes
The Canadians offence ran into some tough breaks in the first inning against Mercedes. Harry Ray was rung up by home plate umpire Kellen Martin despite checking his swing. Leo Jiménez sharply grounded out to second as part of a 1-2-3 inning.
Zach Britton had a two-out single to right in the second inning but made it no further.
The C’s had a chance to add to their lead in the sixth after Barger’s blast. Tirotta walked with one out but was caught stealing second. Britton then worked a full-count walk to force Pall’s exit from the game. Britton got to third when Hiraldo’s ground ball was mishandled by Marte at short but Everett reliever Tyler Driver got Mack Mueller to hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice.
Britton got aboard in all three of his plate appearances with two hits and a walk and stole his fourth base of the season. Barger’s fourth home run of 2022 and Jiménez’s single were the other two hits for the C’s. Tirotta had two free passes and stole his third base of the year.
The Canadians won this one despite going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, leaving four men on base.
Canadians game one starter Chad Dallas put up four shutout innings but they did not come easy. He retired Marte on a fly ball to center on the first pitch but walked Packard and allowed a single to Andy Thomas after getting two strikes ahead in the count. He struck out Trent Tingelstand looking, then walked Dariel Gomez to load the bases before striking out James Parker swinging for out number three.
Dallas retired the side in order in the second but saw the first two runners reach base in the third when Marte got aboard on an error by Barger who could not short-hop the ball at third. Thomas would ground into a 5-4-3 double play thanks to a nice stretch at first base by Tirotta. Dallas then struck out Trent Tingelstad swinging.
The fourth inning saw Dallas set down the first two men he faced but Cole Barr and Myles Miller walks sandwiched a Colin Davis single to load the bases. Marte hit one right on the screws but it was right at his shortstop counterpart Jiménez to end the inning.
Jol Concepion took over on the mound in the fifth and hit Packard with just his second pitch. Thomas walked but was forced out on a 4-6 fielder’s choice. The C’s were able to turn a 6-3 double play from Gomez to get out of the inning.
After Concepion struck out two in a perfect sixth, Thomas Ruwe maintained the shutout by allowing just a two-out single in the seventh.
Dallas had four scoreless frames despite two hits and five walks, striking out five. Concepcion got the win with two innings of one-walk, one-plunk ball by striking out two. Ruwe’s one-hit seventh featured a strikeout.
Game 2 Notes
Everett starter Brayan Perez threw his first pitch over the head of his catcher Welch but unfortunately for Vancouver, that was not a harbinger of things to come. He gave up a two-out single to right by P.K. Morris and walked Zach Britton but he struck out Hiraldo on three pitches to get out of the inning.
Garrett Spain had a bunt single to the mound with one out in the third before a balk moved him to second. Even though Morris drew a walk and Spain stole third, Perez got Britton to fly out to left.
Sosa started the fifth with a base rap up the middle but was forced out on a Cardona fielder’s choice. Cardona would steal second despite sliding past the bag but somehow managed to avoid getting tagged out. Spain would get on base when he heard ball four but Jiménez hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
Morris greeted AquaSox reliever Leon Hunter with a base hit to right to start the sixth inning. A wild pitch got Morris got to second base on a wild pitch and Davis Schneider drew a two-out walk but Mack Mueller flied out to right.
Morris had a perfect day at the plate with two hits and a walk. Spain was aboard twice with a single and a walk and stole his third base of the year. Sosa had the other hit while Britton and Schneider walked once. Cardona stole his fourth base of the season. Vancouver came up empty in five tries with runners in scoring position, stranding seven.
Kloffenstein stranded a two-out walk to Rodriguez in the first inning and left Lavey at second after a leadoff double. He found his groove by retiring the last eight hitters he faced, striking out the side in the sixth. Kloffenstein lasted five innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks while striking out six.
Nolan yielded three runs on two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch but struck out a pair. Will McAffer surrendered a leadoff single by Marte to start the seventh but retired the next three hitters in a row.
Vancouver—now at 12-12 for the season—hopes to salvage a split of the six-game series against Everett. Trent Palmer gets the ball for Monty’s Mounties against Frogs lefty Adam Macko, who started game one of this series. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. on MiLB.TV and CanadiansBaseball.com.
Radar Gun Rundown
Dallas was up to 93 and 95 miles per hour and at 79 on the low end. He had strikeouts at 82, 83, 82, 80 and 84. Concepcion had two Ks at 95 and was at 93-94 and 83 and 85. Ruwe had one strikeout at 95. He was up to 96 and at 81.
Kloffenstein reached 94 and was around 90-92, recording strikeouts of 79, 87, 85, 84, 84 and 87. Nolan was up to 92 and had strikeouts at 85 and 84. McAffer hit 92, 95 and 98.
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