The Vancouver Canadians eviscerated the Eugene Emeralds 11-1 at Nat Bailey Stadium Saturday.
Dahian Santos was on his game early by striking out Grant McCray and Aeverson Arteaga looking in a perfect first inning. The C’s then took advantage of some sloppy Eugene defence to open the scoring in their first at-bat but did not full advantage of it. Dasan Brown beat out a grounder to short and was awarded second base after the high throw from Arteaga went into the dugout. Brown was only given the extra 90 feet after C’s manager Brent Lavallee and first base coach Ashley Stephenson pointed out to the umpires the ball was out of play. Emeralds lefty Matt Mikulski then gave up a single to center by Gabby Martinez to drive in Brown with the game’s first run. McCray’s throw went horribly awry to foul territory along the first base side, granting Martinez an extra base. Despite Cade Doughty drawing a one-out walk and Devonte Brown getting on base on a two-out fielding error by Damon Dues at third base, the C’s left the bases loaded when Josh Kasevich flew out to center.
Santos took care of business again in the second by opening with a called strikeout of Victor Bericoto on a nasty slider before fanning Jared Dupere on the way to another perfect frame. The Canadians broke the game open in the second. Michael Turconi got things rolling with a double off the right field wall on an 0-2 pitch before Jommer Hernández and Dasan Brown—after a nine-pitch at-bat—walked to load the bases. Martinez drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left. Rainer Nuñez reloaded the bases with a walk to end the day for Mikulski. Em’s reliever Brett Standlee induced a 6-4 fielder’s choice by Doughty, who hustled to first to bring home Hernandez with Vancouver’s third run. Alex De Jesus kept one fair down the left field line as it went off the third base bag for a double to bring Dasan Brown and Doughty home. De Jesus would scamper home himself when Devonte Brown singled to center to make it 6-0. Kasevich then singled to left before Turconi topped off the rally for a two-run triple to left that was just fair near the left field corner to give Vancouver an eight-run cushion.
Eugene got their first hit against Santos with a two-out single to center by Dues but McCray went down swinging for the third out. Dasan Brown lined a single to start the fourth against Standlee in the fourth and stole second base but Standlee retired the next three hitters in order.
It was business as usual for Santos with another perfect inning as he got Bericoto swinging to conclude the top of the fourth. The C’s could not capitalize on a Devonte Brown double to the left-center field wall and a Kasevich walk with one out. Despite a wild pitch moving both runners 90 feet closer, Standlee retired the next two batters to keep the Emeralds deficit at eighth.
The Emeralds broke the shutout emphatically in the top of the fifth when Dupere kept one fair down the right field line as he blasted one on top of the Vancouver Gymnasium roof off Santos for a solo home run. The ball splashed the roof, the first time anyone reached the rooftop since the Canadians Art Charles did it in 2012. Other than a two-out walk to Ghordy Santos, Dahian Santos did collect another strikeout by getting Luis Toribio to strike out swinging as part of his five-inning effort.
Martinez singled to center with one out against Emeralds reliever Spencer Bivens but the score remained 8-1 after five innings.
Lefthander Cooper Benson entered the game from the Vancouver bullpen and worked around a one-out Arteaga walk and a Bericoto two-out single that put runners at the corners by retiring Dupere on a fielder’s choice to De Jesus at short.
The Canadians put two runners on when Devonte Brown reached on an infield single and Kasevich bounced one up the middle for a base hit to center but that one-out rally would fizzle out as Bivens got the next two hitters.
Benson was put through the ringer in the top of the seventh as he walked Santos after a nine-pitch at-bat with two outs but the former Arizona State Sun Devil struck out Toribio and Dues for the final two outs.
The C’s rounded out the scoring in the seventh when Dasan Brown singled to right off Bivens and Rainer Nuñez did likewise one out later. Doughty then drilled a three-run home run to left to give Vancouver a 10-run bulge.
Juan Nuñez was the second C’s reliever of the day and cancelled out a two-out single to right by Wyatt by striking out McCray, Arteaga and Bericoto swinging.
Hunter Dula spun a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Emeralds with Turconi robbed of a hit on a diving stop by Arteaga on short who just threw out the former Wake Forest product in a close play at first.
Connor Cooke worked around a two-out base knock to right by Toribio in the top of the ninth by first striking out Dupere before sending Ghordy Santos packing to end the game.
C-Notes
Two roster moves were announced before Saturday’s game. Righthander Sam Ryan was placed on the Development List while fellow northpaw Eric Pardinho was activated from the Injured List.
Hunter Gregory starts the series finale for Vancouver. Game time is 1:05 p.m. on CanadiansBaseball and MiLB.TV with Tyler Zickel handling the play-by-play.
2018 Canadians shortstop Vinny Capra was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for catcher Tyler Heineman. The former Richmond Spider was 1-for-5 with two walks with the Blue Jays in 2022. He began his pro career with the C’s five years ago where he posted an OBP of .344 and belted his first pro home run against Spokane back on June 24.
1983-1985 Vancouver Canadian, 1991 Toronto Blue Jay and 16-year major league knuckleballer Tom Candiotti threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Saturday’s game and signed autographs for the fans. The Candy Man also stopped by the press box to provide colour commentary during Saturday’s broadcast. Candiotti is very familiar with pitching in Canada as he opened his career with the Victoria Mussels of the Northwest League in 1979. He was also a member of the 1985 Pacific Coast League Canadians championship squad. The Walnut Creek, California native also has extensive broadcasting experience as he served as an analyst for the Blue Jays and is part of the Arizona Diamondbacks radio broadcasting crew.
Radar Gun Rundown
Santos pitched at 77 to 96 miles per hour with strikeouts at 94, 94, 80, 85 and 85. Benson was at 78 and recorded strikeouts at 92, 78 and 82. Nuñez reached 100 and had a strikeout at 84. Cooke had a K at 85 and was up to 97.
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