The Vancouver Canadians were doubled up by the Eugene Emeralds 4-2 at P.K. Park Tuesday.
The Emeralds grabbed the lead in the second inning against Abdiel Mendoza who issued leadoff walks to Patrick Bailey and Luis Toribio. After a wild pitch, Jimmy Glowenke loaded the bases with a free pass of his own. Mendoza induced a 6-4-3 double play by Robert Emery but Bailey crossed the plate with the first run of the game.
Eugene padded their lead in the fifth inning with a two-out rally that started when Damiano Palmegiani made a throwing error from third by airmailing one over the head of P.K. Morris at first to allow Simon Whiteman to reach second base. Luis Matos was hit by a Mendoza pitch about the left elbow to put two runners on before Carter Williams singled to center to drive in Whiteman. A throwing error by Dasan Brown in center up the third base line allowed Matos to slide home safely to score to increase the Emeralds lead to 3-0.
Vancouver responded when Miguel Hiraldo connected for a leadoff home run in the eighth to left-center field on the second pitch from Brooks Crawford.
Eugene matched that run when Matos doubled to left-center off Eric Pardinho in the bottom half of the inning. Matos made it to third on a Williams grounder to short and after a walk to Vaun Brown, Matos tagged up on a sacrifice fly to center by Jairo Pomares to make it 4-1 Eugene.
In the top of the ninth, Gabby Martinez doubled on the first pitch he saw from Juan Sanchez. A Morris grounder to second got Martinez over to third. Jommer Hernandez struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch before Hiraldo delivered a two-out single to center score Martinez . Riley Tirotta—pinch-hitting for Garrett Spain—struck out swinging to end the game.
C-Notes
Rainer Nuñez had the C’s first hit with a leadoff single to left against Landon Roupp. He was balked over to second before Martinez drew a walk. Morris flied out to right before the two runners made it into scoring position on a Hernandez grounder to third. Hiraldo drew a walk to load the bases but Garrett Spain struck out swinging.
Vancouver was retired in order in innings three through five as Roupp racked up seven of his nine strikeouts in that stretch.
Brown laid down a bunt single to first to begin the sixth against John Gavin but he was left at first after Leo Jiménez and Palmegiani struck out and Nuñez tapped one back to the mound. The C’s came up against Mat Olsen as he retired the side in the seventh.
Spain ripped a single to right field off Crawford after Hiraldo’s homer in the eighth and Brown had a base hit to left to put two runners on. Jiménez flied out to right in foul territory that did not advance either runner before Palmegiani and Nuñez struck out swinging.
Hiraldo and Brown had two hits apiece with Hiraldo hitting his seventh homer of the year and drawing a walk. Martinez had a double and Spain singled and walked. Vancouver was just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners.
Mendoza yielded a pair of one-out singles in the first inning when Williams singled to right and Brown reached on an infield single to third but he got Jairo Pomares to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Another double play got Mendoza out of trouble in the third when he induced Brown to hit into a 6-4-3 twin-killing to erase a one-out base hit up the middle by Williams.
The C’s righthander retired five in a row until Palmegiani’s error in the fifth inning. He finished with three runs allowed (one earned) on four hits, three walks and a plunk. He struck out three and produced seven outs on the ground but took the loss.
Matt Svanson stranded a runner for Medonza and pitched 1-1/3 perfect innings with one strikeout. Pardinho had a three-up, three-down seventh but gave up a run in the eighth on a hit and a walk while whiffing two.
Vancouver falls to 23-13 in the second-half Northwest League standings, leaving them just half-a-game ahead of Eugene for first place. The C’s overall mark falls to 53-46, with their lead cut to 1-1/2 games ahead of Spokane for second place.
The second game of this six-game set goes tonight at 6:35 p.m. Michael Dominguez will match up against Keaton Winn of the Emeralds. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com with Tyler Zickel and is also on MiLB.TV.
In the transactions column, pitcher Sean Wymer has been promoted to Double-A New Hampshire. The righthander spent the 2018, 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Canadians. After pitching three shutout innings for Dunedin to begin the year, the 2018 fourth-round pick from Texas Christian University won four of five decisions with a 3.96 earned run average with Vancouver. He earned one hold and struck out 25 batters against 13 walks over 25 innings in relief.
Infielder Alex De Jesus was originally assigned to Vancouver but he is now reporting to the Florida Complex League Blue Jays in Dunedin. He was acquired at the MLB trade deadline along with pitcher Mitch White from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that saw former C’s righthander Nick Frasso go to California.
Catcher Anthony Morales and pitcher Garrett Farmer have been placed on the seven-day injured list. That explains why Morales caught the ceremonial first pitches two games in a row during the recent homestand against Tri-City. His last game was August 5 against the Dust Devils. Farmer has not been on the mound since July 22 in Spokane.
Joining the club from the Toronto Blue Jays 2022 draft class are pitchers T.J. Brock and Mason Fluharty. Brock is a 23 year-old righthander that was taken in the sixth round from Ohio State. The righthander from Cincinnati checks in at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds. He made his pro debut with the Dunedin Blue Jays August 6 and struck out two of the three batters he faced in a shutout inning in Lakeland. He will be wearing number 19, the same number as outfielder Steward Berroa who has been sidelined for the season with a hand injury.
Fluharty was Toronto’s fifth round pick from Liberty and will be making his pro debut with the C’s. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder from Lewes, Delaware will be turning 21 years old this Saturday, August 13. He will wear number 25.
Rainer Nuñez will switch from 25 to 37 and manager Brent Lavallee will change from 37 to 35.
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