The Vancouver Canadians dropped the hammer on the Everett AquaSox 13-1 at Nat Bailey Stadium Thursday.
Southpaw Adam Macko put up a quick zero in the top of the first for Vancouver before the bats went to work against Everett lefthander Raúl Alcantara. A one-out single to right field and a steal of second by Dasan Brown set up Rainer Nuñez who had a base hit to right to cash in Brown who beat the throw with a headfirst slide at the plate. Another base knock to right by Alan Roden and a two-out walk by Alex De Jesus loaded the bases. Riley Tirotta then stepped up and cleared the bags with a three-run double to center to make it 4-0 Canadians.
Everett came back from a 4-0 first-inning deficit to win the series opener on Tuesday and tried to do the same thing again when Tyler Locklear walked on four straight pitches to start the second. He swiped second base and James Parker drew a walk with two outs but Macko got Randy Bednar to pop up to second.
Vancouver went back to work on Alcantara in the bottom of the second. Estiven Machado singled to left, stole second and then stole third on ball four to Devonte Brown, who would also steal second. A sacrifice fly to right by Dasan Brown drove in Machado and moved Devonte Brown over to third. Nuñez walked and Roden was hit by a pitch on the right elbow to load the bases. Cade Doughty—who lined out to left in his first at-bat—was able to touch green with a base rap up the middle to drive in Devonte Brown with the C’s sixth run. Tirotta stepped up again with the bases juiced and he sent them all home with a triple to center past a diving Walking Cabrera to make it 9-0 Canadians. That ended the night for Alcantara as righthander John Creel took over on the mound for the Frogs. He was able to get Karl Ellison to foul out to first and end the C”s uprising.
Macko issued another leadoff walk in the third with a free pass to Mike Salvatore but Ellison nailed Salvatore trying to steal second. That happened between strikeouts of Ramirez and Ford, the latter who was caught looking for the third out.
Machado opened the bottom of the third like he did in the second with a base hit to left field. A wild pitch, a fly out to center by Devonte Brown and a sacrifice fly to left by Dasan Brown plated Machado for Vancouver’s 10th run.
The top of the fourth was a 1-2-3 inning for Macko as he struck out Locklear on a foul tip. The Canadians would tack on another run when Doughty homered off Creel into the C’s left field bullpen for his fourth home run of the season. The bullpen brigade applauded when the ball landed safely in their workspace as Salvatore could not hold on to the ball in front of the short fence. Tirotta drew a walk with two outs but he was the final baserunner of the inning.
Charlie Welch singled to center to commence the top of the fifth but a strikeout of Parker afterwards helped Macko finish his outing as he retired the last three batters he faced.
Dasan Brown had a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth but the Frogs finally kept the C’s from adding to their 11-run lead as Creel got Nuñez to line out to left.
Everett got their first two batters on in the sixth against Eric Pardinho when Ramirez singled to right and Ford walked. Cole Barr—who replaced Hogan Windish in left field earlier in the game—popped out to second and Locklear flew out to right to advance Ramirez to third. A wild pitch allowed Ford to get to second but Pardinho got Cabrera to ground out to third to maintain the shutout for Vancouver as Nuñez made a nice dig and stretch at first.
Matt Willrodt entered the game for Everett in the bottom of the sixth and handed out a pair of bruises, drilling Roden in the right leg. Willrodt then knocked Doughty’s batting helmet off his head as the ball hit the ear flap. Doughty was okay to continue. The AquaSox righty found his control as he sat down the next three hitters with the final two coming on punchouts.
Lefthander Cooper Benson took over the hill for Vancouver in the top of the seventh. His only blemish was a one-out walk to Parker but he began and ended the frame with strikeouts of Welch and Salvatore.
Vancouver would add a 12th run in the home half of the seventh against Willrodt. A double to left by Machado was pushed over to third on a wild pitch. Devonte Brown was nearly drilled as he had to duck out of the way and wound up fouling off the pitch. Willrodt brushed back Brown with another high offering but the North Carolina State product got Machado home with a groundout to short.
Benson was back for the eighth inning for Vancouver and he alternated strikeouts of Ramirez and Barr with walks of Ford and Locklear before finishing up with a fly out to center by Cabrera.
The Canadians would rack up one more run against Luis Curvelo in the home half of the eighth. A four-pitch leadoff walk to Roden and a two-out wild pitch was driven home on a base hit to left by Tirotta, capping off a seven-run RBI night in which he finished a home run shy of the cycle.
Lefty Mason Fluharty replaced Benson for the ninth inning but a one-out walk to Park and an RBI double to right by Bednar broke up the C’s shutout bid. Devonte Brown kicked the ball around to allow Bednar to make it to third. Fluharty would get the next two hitters he faced, including a foul pop-up behind the plate from Ramirez to end the game.
C-Notes
Vancouver is now 16-10 on the season and have a 1-1/2 game lead on Spokane and Eugene for first place in the Northwest League.
The Canadians face the AquaSox again. Trenton Wallace will be on the hill for Vancouver. First pitch is at 1:05 on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV.
Radar Gun Rundown
Macko checked in at 78-97 miles per hour and had one pitch register at 100. His strikeouts came on pitches at 83, 96, 95 and 84. Pardinho had pitches at 82 and 83. Benson had Ks of 82, 81, 82 and 81 and was at 77-92. Fluharty was at 80-93.
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