The Vancouver Canadians swept the Spokane Indians in a doubleheader with a 5-4 win in Game 1 and a 6-4 victory in Game 2 at Avista Stadium on Tuesday.
Vancouver struck first when Alan Roden singled to center on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the game. He would score when Andrés Sosa belted the first pitch he saw from Cullen Kafka over the right field fence to make it 2-0 C’s.
Spokane worked a pair of walks against Canadians starter Michael Dominguez in the bottom of the first but the leadoff free pass by Adael Amador was cut down on a 5-4-3 double play from Braxton Fulford. Jordan Beck worked a two-out base on balls before Dominguez retired Yanquiel Fernandez on a foul out to third.
The top of the second began with a Devonte Brown single up the middle but Josh Kasevich grounded into a 6-4-3 twin killing. That especially hurt when Garrett Spain followed with a triple to left. Estiven Machado and Roden walked to load the bases but Kafka retired Sosa on a pop up to second.
Dominguez survived a two-out scare in the bottom of the second when Nic Kent singled to center and Ben Sems singled to left field and they advanced 90 feet on Roden’s fielding but Braiden Ward lined out to deep center for the third out.
Rainer Nuñez had an infield single to second to lead off the Vancouver third but that was all the C’s would get. Amador began the Spokane third with a base hit up the middle but Dominguez got the next three outs, including a strikeout of Beck.
Kasevich started the top of the fourth with a single to left field and Roden walked with two outs but they were left stranded.
The bottom of the fourth began with a base knock for Spokane when Juan Guerrero went up the middle. He stole second before Dominguez struck out Zach Kokosa and Nic Kent. A Sems single to right scored Guerrero with Spokane’s first run. Sems would swipe second but Dominguez got Ward to pop out to third to end the inning.
Nuñez got another hit to start an inning as he doubled to the left field corner to begin the fifth. Cade Doughty reached first on a fielding error by Amador at short. Gabby Martinez lined out to center but Nuñez was able to tag up and go to third. Joel Condreay relieved Kafka and struck out Brown swinging but walked Kasevich to load the bases. Spain punched a single to right field to drive on Nuñez and Doughty to give Vancouver a 4-1 lead. A wild pitch moved Kasevich and Brown into scoring position but Machado struck out swinging.
After Dominguez struck out Amador and Beck to begin and end a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, the Canadians added another run in the top of the sixth. Roden walked but was caught stealing second but Sosa heard ball four and that was it for Condreay. Keegan James uncorked a wild pitch to send Sosa to second and he would score on a two-out Doughty double to second to make it 5-1 C’s.
Braden Scott took over for Dominguez and he was hurt by the long ball as Fernandez sent a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right to begin the bottom of the sixth. Guerrero followed with a walk and he got to trot home on a Koskoka dinger to right to bring Spokane to within a run. Sems got aboard with a one-out single to third before Scott struck out Ward swinging for the second out. T.J. Brock took over for Scott and got Ward to ground out to first to preserve the one-run lead.
James served up a two-out double to right by Spain in the top of the seventh but struck out Machado to send the game to the bottom half of the frame. Brock struck out Fulford looking and Beck swinging before ending the game with a Fernandez groundout to second for his second save and to cement Dominguez’s second win of the year.
C’s starter Kevin Miranda made his Northwest League debut and got to throw the first pitch of Game 2 as Vancouver was the “home side” in this one. That first pitch resulted in an Amael Amador single but Miranda got Benny Montgomery to hit in a 6-4-3 double play. Jordan Beck tripled on a 0-1 pitch to left field but Miranda got Yanquiel Fernandez to ground out to second to post a scoreless first.
Mason Green walked Dasan Brown with one out in the C’s first at-bat and though Brown would steal second base with two away, Riley Tirotta would fly out to center.
Miranda gave up a one-out double to left by Zach Kokoska in the second inning but he struck out Ben Sems for the third out.
The C’s would score in the second off Green when Alex De Jesus deposited the baseball over the left field fence for a one-out solo home run. Josh Kasevich singled to center but that was all for the Vancouver offence.
There was more traffic on the bases for Miranda in the third when Amador singled to center with one out and Montgomery walked but a Beck fly out to center and a Fernandez pop-up to short sent Spokane away empty-handed.
Green and Miranda traded perfect frames to send the game to the bottom of the fourth. The only baserunner Vancouver could manage was a two-out walk by De Jesus.
Cooper Benson took the ball from Miranda for the top of the fifth and he got into trouble by walking the leadoff man Sems. A Bryant Quijada bunt to Benson put Sems at second base. Amador walked before Benson got Montgomery to pop out to short. Benson was a strike away from ending the threat but Beck singled to center to score Sems with the tying run. Again, Benson needed one more strike against Fernandez for the third out but a base hit to left on a 1-2 pitch plated Amador with the go-ahead run and sent Beck over to third. The elusive strike three for Benson finally came when he whiffed Braxton Fulford on a 3-2 pitch to keep the Spokane lead at 2-1.
The C’s would not remain behind for long. Michael Turconi doubled to center to begin the bottom of the fifth and advanced to third on a Jommer Hernández fly out to right. Tyler Ras replaced Green and gave up the lead immediately when Alan Roden jumped on the first pitch for a base hit to right to drive in Turconi. A wild pitch and a Brown single to left got Roden over to third. Brown stole second and he and Roden would score on a Rainer Nuñez double to center to lift Vancouver to a 4-2 lead. Gabby Martinez worked a two-out walk but Ras got De Jesus on a 1-3 ground out to stop the rally.
Justin Kelly was called out of the Vancouver bullpen for the top of the sixth and he surrendered a Kokoska home run to left-center to cut the C’s lead to 4-3. Aiverson Rodriguez then got on base when Turconi made a throwing error at second. Sems then walked on four straight pitches but Kelly was able to pick off Rodriguez at second base for the first out. That turned out to be critical when Quijada and Sems both singled to left to load the bases. Matt Svanson replaced Kelly and fell behind in the count at 3-1 before inducing a 4-6-3 double play from Montgomery to keep the C’s one-run lead intact.
Monty’s Mounties opened up a little breathing room in the bottom of the sixth against Tyler Ahearn. Kasevich got things started with a base hit to left and Hernández got aboard with a one-out walk. Roden ripped a double to right to score Kasevich and Hernández before being thrown out at third on a 9-5 putout. Brown beat out a grounder to third for an infield single and stole second base but Nuñez was retired on a fly ball to left.
Svanson handed out a leadoff walk to Beck to begin the bottom of the seventh. A Fernandez ground out to second moved Beck into scoring position. Fulford struck out but a Kokoska infield single to short scored Beck and brought the potential tying run to the plate in Rodriguez but Svanson struck out him swinging to end the game. That was Svanson’s first save of the year to help Benson improve to 3-0.
C-Notes
Congratulations to Devereaux Harrison for winning the Northwest League Pitcher of the Week award for May 15-21. The righthander began the week with two perfect innings and two strikeouts in Tri-City on May 16 before allowing just an infield single and striking out six over five shutout frames in his first professional start against the Dust Devils on May 21.
Lefthander Mason Fluharty was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire before Tuesday’s game. The 21-year-old was 1-0 with a save, a hold and an earned run average of 0.59 over 15-1/3 innings. The 2022 Blue Jays fifth-round pick out of Liberty struck out 21 batters and walked only five. The Delaware Destroyer also pitched 15-1/3 innings with a 21-7 K/BB total in 2022 with the C’s to begin his pro career.
Righthander Kevin Miranda was called up from Low-A Dunedin prior to Tuesday’s game. The 24 year-old from Dolega, Panama was a free-agent signing by Toronto on August 4, 2022 out of Louisiana State-Shreveport, the alma mater of C’s manager Brent Lavallee. Miranda made his pro debut with the D-Jays this season where he has struck out 21 batters and walked only three over 24-1/3 innings. He won his lone decision and converted his first save opportunity while putting up a picket-fence ERA of 1.11. Miranda has been assigned number 12.
Catcher Andrés Sosa made his 2023 C’s debut after a rehab stint with Low-A Dunedin. The hombre from Hermosillo, Mexico got in 10 official at-bats with the D-Jays where he had two hits along with two walks over three games.
With Sosa’s return, catcher Lyle Lin is back on the Development List. He played three games for Vancouver, going 2-for-10 with a double, a run batted in and two runs scored.
2002 C’s lefty Jimmy Burnette has been bumped up to Triple-A Buffalo after starting the year in New Hampshire. The Chicago native recorded a 2.63 ERA and converted all five of his save opportunities, striking out 26 and walking nine over 13-2/3 innings.
The Canadians upped their record to 21-17 and face Spokane again on Wednesday. Lefthander Adam Macko gets the ball for Vancouver. Tyler Zickel will call the game beginning at 6:35 p.m. on CanadiansBaseball.com.
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