The Vancouver Canadians rallied from a six-run deficit to knock off the Everett AquaSox 13-8 at Nat Bailey Stadium Sunday.
The fireworks began in the bottom of the second inning against Everett starter Adam Macko. After throwing five shutout innings against the C’s in game one Tuesday, the C’s would eventually get to the Alberta-raised lefty. Mack Mueller worked a one-out walk in the second inning and scampered to third on a Miguel Hiraldo base hit to right with his pink-coloured at-bat. Hiraldo drew a pickoff throw from Macko to first baseman Dariel Gomez. After double-clutching, Gomez threw the ball to second base where shortstop Noelvi Marte stepped in front of the second base bag and threw the ball home. Despite replays on MiLB.TV showing Mueller beating the throw home on a headfirst slide, home plate umpire Kellen Martin called Mueller out. Mueller was upset with the call and he was not the only one as C’s manager Brent Lavallee came out to argue before being ejected from the game. With Hiraldo at second, the C’s did not come away empty-handed as Davis Schneider sent a ball into the parking lot in left-center field just to the right of the C’s bullpen for a two-run home run to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead.
That would not the be the first two-run homer of the day as Everett stormed back with a vengeance in the top of the third. Marte blooped a single to center on the first pitch from Canadians starter Trent Palmer to open the top of the third. A bat flip by Marte on the first base side drew the ire of Palmer but Marte would get to trot home when Tyler Keenan hit an opposite-field home run just over the C’s bullpen to tie the game at 2-2. Two pitches later, Charlie Welch was hit just above his mid-section and he would get to jog hime when former Blue Jays farmhand Alberto Rodriguez rocked one over the center field wall to make it 4-2 Everett. Thomas then hit a double to right and he also did not have to exert himself on his way home when Justin Lavey lifted one out of the park to center field to expand Everett’s lead to four.
Everett would expand their lead in the fifth inning against Vancouver reliever Alejandro Melean. A one-out double to left by Lavey was driven home on a another double to left by Gomez that got over a leaping Schneider. Trent Tingelstad followed with a single to left. The throw by Schneider was caught up the third base line by C’s catcher Anthony Morales who tried to get Tingelstad at second but he airmailed a throw to center and Gomez was able to score to give the AquaSox a six-run advantage.
Vancouver embarked on the comeback trail in the fifth inning against Frogs reliever Fred Villarreal. A leadoff single to right by Zach Britton and a base hit to center by Jiménez got the ball rolling. Rodriguez tried to throw out Britton but was charged with an error when he throw to third when off Britton. That also allowed Jiménez to move up another 90 feet. Addison Barger would walk to load the bases and P.K. Morris had a base on balls four pitches later to score Britton. Riley Tirotta doubled over the head of Rodriguez just past his outstretched glove to deep center field to drive in Jiménez and Barger and move Morris to third. Mueller then singled up the gut cash in Morris and Tirotta to chop the AquaSox lead to 8-7.
The Canadians kept on coming in the sixth against AquaSox reliever Jackson Sigman. With one out, Jiménez found the gap in right-center field and turned on the jets to make it into third base. A wild pitch that Barger had to jump out of the way of in the left-hand batter’s box allowed Jiménez to cross the plate with the tying run. Barger would go on to grind out a nine-pitch at-bat after falling behind 0-2 in the count to draw a walk. Morris singled to right and he and Barger would pull off a double steal on a Tirotta strikeout. However, Tirotta made Sigman work for that strikeout by working the count full during an eight-pitch at-bat. Mueller then stepped up with a single up the middle to plate Barger and Morris to make it 10-8 Vancouver.
The Canadians would add to their lead with a two-out rally in the seventh against Brendan McGuigan. A full-count walk to Britton and a throwing error by McGuigan on a pickoff attempt was driven in on a single to left by Jiménez that got past a diving Keenan at third for Vancouver’s 11th run. Barger then lined a double to right-center to send Jiménez home for run number 12. A walk from Morris and a passed ball four by Thomas allowed Barger to get to third. Tirotta then lined a ball off the glove of Keenan to score Barger and give Vancouver a baker’s dozen in the run column.
C-Notes
Jiménez was the Canadians first baserunner of the day by drawing a one-out walk in the first inning. He made it to second on a Tirotta grounder to short but Morris went down swinging.
Jiménez was hit on the right foot with a pitch with one out in the third and got to second on a two-out seeing-eye single by Morris but Tirotta struck out swinging.
Mueller worked a leadoff walk in the fourth inning but Macko struck out the side looking.
The C’s got at least one baserunner in their eight at-bats as Schneider took a stroll to first base after earning a walk against Everett reliever Evan Johnson.
Jiménez was the hit and on-base leader in this one with three hits, a walk and a hit by pitch and scored three times. Morris, Tirotta and Mueller all had two hits apiece in the middle of the order with Morris and Mueller walking twice. They combined for eight runs batted in with Mueller knocking home four and Tirotta plating three. Morris also stole his second base of 2022.
Barger doubled, walked twice, stole his sixth base of the year and like Jiménez, reached the pentagon three times. Schneider belted his third homer of the season and walked and Britton singled and walked. Hiraldo also had a base knock as the number one through eight hitters made a dent in the hit column.
Palmer gave up a infield base hit to Marte on the first pitch of the game. Barger fielded a copper near the third base bag but his throw drew Morris off the first base bag. Marte would steal second with one out and make it to third on a wild pitch/strikeout of Welch but Palmer struck out Rodriguez swinging to get out of that jam.
In the third inning, Palmer tried to squeeze a comebacker to the mound off the bat of Thomas but he reached on an infield single to short by beating Jiménez’s throw. A one-out base hit to right by Gomez got Thomas over to third base but Palmer stranded them by striking out Tingelstad and getting Miller to fly out to right.
The fourth inning saw Palmer give up a one-out single to Keenan to right over a leaping Hiraldo at second but Palmer ended his outing by striking out Welch and Rodriguez.
Melean walked Thomas to open up the seventh and Lavey reached base after Hiraldo kicked away a potential 4-3 double play. Thomas tried to get to third after the ball popped out of Morales’ glove but the C’s catcher picked it up and threw the ball to third where Barger applied the tag on Thomas who overslid the bag for a big first out. Melean recovered to strike out Gomez swinging and induced a grounder to second that Hiraldo ranged well to his left to throw out Tingelstad to end the threat.
Melean got two quick outs to start the eight when Miller flied out to left on the first pitch and got Marte to ground out two pitches later to Morris who ranged toward the first base line and made a leaping throw across his body to Melean covering the bag. Keenan would work a four-pitch walk and Colin Davis singled to left to chase Melean from the game. Abdiel Mendoza would put out the fire by whiffing Rodriguez. That was the first of four batters retired by Mendoza as he retired the side in order in the ninth to finish the game.
Palmer gave up six runs on nine hits and a hit by pitch but struck out six without walking a man in his four innings of work. Melean earned the win, giving up two runs (one earned) in 3-2/3 innings on four hits and two walks but struck out five. Mendoza stranded both of Melean’s runners and pitched 1-1/3 perfect innings with one strikeout.
Mueller was a late addition to the starting lineup as he replaced Garrett Spain in center. Spain was supposed to lead off but Britton was moved into the leadoff spot instead as the designated hitter. Mueller replaced Britton in the sixth spot.
The Canadians wore their 1996 retro jerseys for the second straight Sunday this season after their Throwback Thursday game was rained out again. The third time may be the charm for the retro jerseys to make their actual Throwback Thursday debut when the C’s return home for their next homestand against Tri-City beginning May 17.
The Canadians are back over the .500 mark at 13 wins and 12 losses. That leaves them a half-game behind Eugene and two games back of first place Spokane.
Monty’s Mounties are back over the border as they open up a series against the Eugene Emeralds at P.K. Park Monday night. The game can be heard on CanadiansBaseball.com and seen on MiLB.TV. Sem Robberse will be the game one starter for Vancouver. Wil Jensen gets the ball for Eugene in a 7;35 p.m. first pitch.
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