The Vancouver Canadians were downed 10-6 by the Everett AquaSox at Funko Field on Tuesday.
The C’s fell behind very early as starter Michael Dominguez surrendered a Jonatan Close home run to right field on the second pitch of the game. The Frogs threatened to do more damage when rehabbing Mariner Drew Moore drew a walk and Harry Ford singled to right field. Former Blue Jays farmhand Alberto Rodriguez fouled out to left field but Tyler Locklear walked to load the bases. Dominguez got out of it when he got Hogan Windish to hit into a 6-4-3 double play with Rainer Nuñez making a nice pick at first.
After a 1-2-3 first, Vancouver got to Everett starter Raúl Alcantara in the second. Gabby Martinez drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a Cade Doughty grounded out to third. Josh Kasevich walked on four straight pitches before Michael Turconi singles to center on a 0-2 pitch to score Martinez with the tying run. Jommer Hernández also found the eight-spot with a base hit to drive in Kasevich from second.
Dominguez took care of the AquaSox in the second by striking out Axel Sanchez and Walking Cabrera to begin and end the 1-2-3 frame.
Alan Roden was hit the side by an Alcantara pitch to begin the top of the third for the C’s. Nuñez tried to get one to drop in center field but Clase made the catch near the shoe tops for the first out. Roden would steal second base but De Jesus struck out looking and Martinez went down swinging.
In the bottom of the third, Clase walked to begin the frame and stole second but it appeared Turconi got the tag down in time. Clase also came off the bag for a bit but Turconi had tossed the ball to Kasevich at short. Moore then singled past a diving Doughty to put runners at the corners. Ford struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch but Moore swiped second without a throw. Dominguez got ahead of Rodriguez 1-2 in the count before walking him. What was worse was ball four bounced away from Hernandez not that far up the first base side to allow Clase to score and Moore to advance to third.
Walks to Locklear and Windish scored Moore to put Everett on top 3-2. Naswell Paulino relieved Dominguez and struck out Sanchez but he walked Ben Ramirez to send Rodriguez home. The inning finally ended when Cabrera flew out to left.
Kasevich worked a walk off Alcantara with one out in the top of the fourth and swiped second base. Turconi would also hear ball four and Hernändez followed with a base hit to left to fill the bases. Dasan Brown struck out swinging for the second out but Alcantara grazed Roden with a pitch in the midsection to allow Kasevich to trot home. Alcantara was pulled in favour of Kelvin Nuñez but he was bettered by Rainer in the battle of Nuñezes as Rainer ripped the first pitch he saw for a double to the left field that was booted around by Cabrerar into the Everett bullpen, allowing Turconi, Hernández and Roden to score to put Vancouver ahead 6-4.
Everett went back to work as Clase jumped on a 2-1 pitch from Paulino for a solo shot that stayed fair down the left field line to start the fourth to cut Vancouver’s lead to 6-5. Paulino got the next two batters, including Brown running down a drive to left-center field from Ford. Rodriguez walked to extend the inning and another single by Locklear found a hole on the left side of the infield for a base hit. Windish then grounded out on a slow chopper too short that was deftly handled by Kasevich.
Hunter Gregory relieved Paulino in the fifth for Vancouver and matched the zero by Kevin Nuñez in the bottom of the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. It began with a tapper back to the mound from Sanchez, a reverse K by Ramirez and a swinging K by Cabrera.
Turconi singled to center field and Hernández walked to start the Vancouver sixth. Roden walked to load the bases with one out but Kelvin Nuñez got his revenge on Rainer by getting him to ground into a 6-4-3 twin-killing.
The AquaSox made the C’s pay in the sixth by taking the lead against Gregory. Clase walked and swiped second and third with one out and scored on Ford’s game-tying double to center. Lockleader grounded to second which Turconi had to range well to his left to get before throwing to Kasevich covering the bag for the forecourt. Kasevich’s throw to first was not in time but was charged with an error when the ball rolled away from Nuñez at first even though Locklear beat it out. Regardless., Ford scored what turned out to be the game-winning run. Gregory struck out Windish after Locklear had swiped second.
Logan Rinehart kept Vancouver at bay by giving up just a one-out single to Martinez. Everett would add on against Devereaux Harrison after the seventh-inning stretch when Ramirez socked a one-out home run to right. Harrison would strike out Cabrera and Clase to end the inning.
Kyle Hill retired the C’s in order in the eighth and the AquaSox added insurance. Ford had walked with one out against Harrison but was thrown out by Hernandez trying to steal second. However, Everett just kept coming as Rodriguez singled to right before Locklear went deep to left field for a two-run homer.
Peyton Alford struck out the side in the ninth for Everett, ringing up Roden before getting Nuñez and De Jesus swinging.
C-Notes
The C’s face the Dust Devils again at Funko Field. The first pitch Wednesday is at 6:05 p.m. Chad Dallas gets the start for Vancouver. Bernie Martinez goes for Everett. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV with Tyler Zickel.
Adam Macko is slated to start for Vancouver Thursday against his former team. Trenton Wallace, Dahian Santos and Gregory will round out the C’s rotation Friday through Sunday.
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