The Vancouver Canadians fell to the Spokane Indians 11-6 at Avista Stadium on Wednesday.
Spokane dropped the hammer early on C’s starter Adam Macko when Jordan Beck belted a two-run home run to right-center field to score a one-out walk to Benny Montgomery in the first inning
Vancouver got their first two baserunners aboard in the top of the second when Riley Tirotta and Cade Doughty drew back-to-back walks against Gabriel Hughes but Colorado’s first-round pick from the 2022 MLB Draft struck out Alex De Jesus and got Josh Kasevich to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
Macko retired five in a row after a Yanquiel Fernandez single to right that included strikeouts of Braxton Fulford and Ben Sems to send the game to the top of the third.
Alan Roden doubled to right with two outs in the third for the C’s first hit of the game but Hughes struck out Dasan Brown to end the frame. Spokane got a one-out single to center from Montgomery but Macko induced an around-the-horn double play to finish the bottom of the third.
Rainer Nuñez put Vancouver on the board when he homered to right on an 0-2 pitch from Hughes to start off the fourth but Fernandez did the exact same thing a half-inning later by homering on an 0-2 offering to right-center from Macko to restore Spokane’s two-run lead. Fulton singled on the next pitch to center. After getting Zach Kokoska to strike out and Juan Guerrero to fly out to right, Fulford stole second base and scored on a Ben Sems double to right. A Jommer Hernández passed ball allowed Sems to get to third and he would eventually score on an Adael Amador base hit to right to put Spokane ahead 5-1.
Spokane continued to pour it on against Eric Pardinho in the fifth inning for Vancouver and walked Beck and Koskoska along with a single to center by Fernandez. Though Pardinho struck out Fulford, Guerrero smacked a triple to center for a three-run knock. Sems then lifted a sacrifice fly to left to give Spokane a 9-1 advantage.
Bryce McGovern kept the C’s from scoring in the sixth despite a Brown base hit to right and a stolen base and a Nuñez walk.
Spokane picked up its 10th run against Naswell Paulino in the sixth. An infield single and throwing error by De Jesus at third allowed Amador to get to second base. Paulino struck out Montgomery and was an out away from getting out of the inning but Fernandez singled to center to bring in Amador.
Luis Amador was summoned from the Spokane bullpen in the seventh and issued a leadoff walk to De Jesus before Garrett Spain smacked a two-run homer to right to make it a 10-3 game.
Vancouver would cut the deficit to five in the top of the eighth against Anderson Bido. A one-out Nuñez double to center and a Tirotta base hit to left. After Doughty walked to load the bases, Kasevich delivered a two-run single up the middle to score Nuñez and Tirotta.
After Paulino worked a clean seventh, Sam Ryan entered the game for the eighth but Spokane put together a one-out rally when Amador doubled to center and went to third on a passed ball. Montgomery lined a single to center to plate Amador with Spokane’s 11th run.
Roden took Angel Chivilli deep to right-center for a solo shot with one out in the ninth. Nuñez drew a two-out walk but Tirotta hit into a game-ending 6-4 fielder’s choice.
C-Notes
With the loss, Vancouver is now 21-18 which ties them with Spokane for second place and leaves them one half-game back of 22-18 Eugene for top spot in the Northwest League.
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