The Vancouver Canadians defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils 3-1 at Gesa Stadium on Sunday.
Vancouver had the first two men reach base in the top of the second against Bryce Osmond when Riley Tirotta walked and Cade Doughty singled to left field. Doughty was forced out on a Josh Kasevich 5-4 fielder’s choice and the rally fizzled when Michael Turconi struck out and Tirotta was thrown out on a 2-6-2 play at the plate on a failed double steal attempt.
Alan Roden drew a two-out walk against Osmond in the third but he would be stranded. Meanwhile, C’s starter Devereaux Harrison mowed down the Dust Devils the first time through the batting order with strikeouts of Arol Vera swinging and Osmy Gregorio looking to begin the second before whiffing Casey Dana and Myles Emmerson to end the third.
Rainer Nuñez opened the top of the fourth with a single to center but was erased on a 1-4-3 double play from Tirotta. Doughty kept the inning going with a single to first that Osmond could not handle on the mound and he would score on a Kasevich double to right to give the C’s a 1-0 lead.
The bottom of the fourth also opened with a hit and a double play. Joe Stewart got aboard on an infield single to short for the Dust Devils first hit off Harrison but Stewart was doubled off by Gabby Martinez after making an over-the-shoulder catch to start a 9-3 DP.
Harrison would sit down the next four hitters he faced, striking out Vera and Knowles to end a perfect fifth inning.
The C’s had a runner in scoring position with one out in the fifth when Jommer Hernández made it to second on an error by Dana at third. Osmond would get Roden to fly out to right and Martinez to ground out to third.
Justin Kelly took over for Harrison in the sixth and walked Gustavo Campero on his first four pitches. A Dana sacrifice bunt to Kelly and an Emmerson ground out to short advanced Campero over to third. A Michael Turconi throwing error at second on a Stewart ground ball allowed Campero to score the tying run.
The Canadians got that back in the seventh when Kasevich made it to first on an infield single to second before Turconi and Dasan Brown both walked to load the bases, the latter free pass issued by Roman Phansalkar. Kasevich was cut down at the plate trying to score on a Hernández grounder to first but Roden came through by lining a single to right to score Turconi and Brown. Martinez was shaken up when he was hit by a pitch but remained in the game but he was the last baserunner of the inning for the C’s.
Mason Fluharty took over for Kelly in the seventh and stranded a one-out double to left by Vera with a pair of groundouts and an infield pop-up.
Vancouver tried to add more insurance in the eighth when Kasevich singled to right and Turconi walked with one out. They moved up a base on a Brown grounder to third but were stranded when Hernández popped out to first.
Matt Svanson worked a perfect eighth for Vancouver and Hayden Seig did likewise in the ninth for Tri-City. T.J. Brock closed it out for the C’s with a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save, giving Kelly the win.
C-Notes
Harrison is definitely in the running to give Vancouver its third Northwest League Pitcher of the Week award of the season. The former Long Beach State product faced the minimum with five one-hit innings of shutout ball while whiffing six in his first professional start. Current New Hampshire Fisher Cat Chad Dallas and Trenton Wallace have already captured NWL Pitcher of the Week honours in 23.
The 19-17 Canadians head to Spokane to launch an eight-game series at Avista Stadium beginning on Tuesday with a doubleheader. Tyler Zickel will have the call for the twin bill beginning at 11:05 a.m. on CanadiansBaseball.com .
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