The Vancouver Canadians fell again to the Everett AquaSox 7-3 at Funko Field Saturday.
The C”s got two runners on in the top of the first inning against Everett starter Reid VanScoter when Dasan Brown drew a leadoff walk. Cade Doughty had a two-out free pass but Josh Kasevich grounded out to short.
Vancouver starter Dahian Santos also had to deal with a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the first. He struck out Jonatan Clase swinging but Harry Ford walked and stole second when Alberto Rodriguez struck out. Tyler Locklear walked on four straight pitches but Ben Ramirez popped out to short for the third out.
Devonte Brown had a two-out walk in the top of the second but Karl Ellison lined out to center while Santos struck out the side in the bottom half of the frame by getting Axel Sanchez and James Parker looking and Charlie Welch looking.
It was nothing doing for the C’s in the top of the third when VanScoten struck out De Jesus for the third out. Santos whiffed Walking Cabrera to start the inning but after walking Clase, he got Ford to ground into a 4-3 double play.
After VanScoten struck out Doughty to begin a 1-2-3 fourth, the AquaSox broke the game open against Santos in the bottom of the inning. Locklear and Ramirez worked one-out walks and Sanchez singled to center to load the bases. A passed ball by Ellison and a wild pitch by Santos scored Locklear and Ramirez before Parker put one over the left field fence for a two-run home run to make it 4-0 Frogs. Cooper Benson replaced Santos and after giving up a double to center by Welch, he struck out Cabrera swinging and got Clase to ground out to short.
Devonte Brown had a one-out double to center in the fifth for Vancouver but remained 180 feet away from home when Ellison and Dasan Brown struck out swinging. Everett poured it on in the bottom of inning five when Ford and Rodriguez were walked by Cooper before Ramirez singled to score Ford. The AquaSox tried to pull off a double steal but Rodriguez was thrown out at the plate by De Jesus from short. Sanchez then singled up the middle to drive in Ramirez before being thrown out a third to end the inning.
VanScoter continued to roll through the Vancouver lineup with another perfect frame, striking out De Jesus in the top of the sixth. Naswell Paulino replaced fellow southpaw Benson and walked Parker on four straight pitches but got Welch to hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Cabrera then made it on an infield single to first but the inning ended on a Clase fly out to right.
The C”s finally got on the board in the seventh when Luis Curvelo replaced VanScoter on the hill. Kasevich began the frame with a base on balls and Garrett Spain did likewise after a Curvelo balk. A wild pitch moved both runners up before Riley Tirotta drove one over the fence in left field to half Everett’s lead at 6-3. The Canadians could not follow that up with any more offence as Devonte Brown and Ellison both lined out to third. Kyle Hill was summoned from the AquaSox bullpen and struck out Dasan Brown for out number three.
Justin Kelly worked the bottom of the seventh for Vancouver and worked around a one-out double to right by Rodriguez. Gabby Martinez singled up the middle to open the top of the eighth for Vancouver but Hill struck out the side by swinging by sitting down De Jesus, Doughty and Kasevich.
Kelly then struck out Sanchez and Parker in the bottom of the eighth but Welch connected for a solo shot to put Everett ahead by four.
Jorge Benitez racked up two more Ks by sitting down Spain and Tirota. Devonte Brown was hit by a pitch, took second on defensive indifference and went to third on a Welch passed ball. Ellison then walked to put runners on the corners but with the potential tying run on deck, Brown popped out to third in foul territory for the final out.
C-Notes
Why are the Canadians struggling in Everett? Too many walks. C’s broadcaster Tyler Zickel crunched the ugly numbers in Saturday’s game summary on CanadiansBaseball.com.
“Vancouver has walked 31 batters in their last five games. Of the 53 walks they’ve issued on the year, 20 have turned into runs; that’s 41% of the total runs they have surrendered on the season.”
The C’s and AquaSox finish up this series at 4:05 p.m. Sunday. Hunter Gregory will try to right the ship on the slope for Vancouver. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV.
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