The Vancouver Canadians got by the Spokane Indians 2-1 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Tuesday.
It was a pitcher’s duel as Vancouver’s Michael Dominguez and Spokane’s Connor Van Scoyoc matched zeros for the first half of the game. Dominguez gave up the first hit of the game to Sterlin Thompson who singled to center with one out but Jordan Beck hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
Despite leadoff walks in the second through fourth innings, Dominguez managed to strand them all. Zach Kokoska was thrown out trying to steal second by Jommer Hernández on a 2-4 play on a bang-bang play in the second inning. José Cordova got a free pass in the third but Dominguez struck Robby Martin Jr. before getting Bryant Quijada to line out to Devonte Brown for an unassisted double play at first. Braiden Ward‘s leadoff base on balls in the fourth was picked off by Dominguez on a 1-3-6-1 play. A throwing error by Alex De Jesús at short on a Beck ground ball with two outs kept the inning but Dominguez knocked down a tapper back to the mound from Kokoska for an inning-ending 1-3 putout.
Van Scoyoc—who was traded by the Los Angeles Angels to the Colorado Rockies for infielder Mike Moustakas—cruised for the first two innings with three punchouts. Michael Turconi was the only one to make good contact but he was robbed of a hit by a leaping Nic Kent at short to start the second.
Gabby Martinez got Vancouver’s first hit with a leadoff single to center field in the third. Devonte Brown hit one to the warning track in center field before a Hernandez base hit to right resulted in two runners in scoring position. Martinez was able to use a swim move at third to beat the throw from Martin. Spokane manager Robinson Cancel argued with base umpire Cas Cousins but it was to no avail. Martinez tried to score on an Alan Roden ground ball to second but Ward made the throw to Quijada at the plate to nail the C’s left fielder. Dasan Brown went down swinging for the third out.
The C’s tried again to get to Van Scoyoc in the fourth when Turconi walked with one out and went to third on a base hit to right by Cade Doughty. However, Doughty got caught in a rundown and was tagged out on a 9-3-6-4 play to effectively spoil that rally.
Spokane was set down in order by Dominguez in the fifth inning which ended with a Cordova strikeout. Vancouver then managed to score the game’s first run against Van Scoyoc in the bottom of the fifth. Martinez was drilled in the back by a 92-mile-per-hour fastball. Devonte Brown singled to left that Kent could not hang onto at short but was forced out on a 6-4-3 double play by Hernández. Martinez got to third on the play and he would score when Roden singled to right. Dasan Brown singled to center before De Jesús followed with a single to left. Roden got the wave to come home from C’s manager Brent Lavallee at first before putting up the stop sign. However, Roden was tagged out at third trying to dive back to the bag on a 7-5-6 play to squelch that rally.
In the top of the sixth, Turconi robbed Quijada of a hit with a diving catch at second for the second out. Ward then dropped down a bunt along the third base line for a base hit and was awarded second after Doughty’s throw was ruled out of play as the ball went into the Spokane first base dugout before bouncing back onto the field. Dominguez ended his night by striking out Thompson to complete six shutout frames.
Van Scoyoc surrendered a leadoff single to left by Turconi in the home half of the sixth but that was it. Garrett Spain was retired on an over-the-shoulder catch by Ben Sems near the third base line. That happened between a pair of strikeouts to end the frame.
Braden Scott relieved Dominguez in the seventh and struck out Beck for the first out. The lefthander walked Kent with two outs but got out of the inning by getting Sems on a ground out to third.
Van Scoyoc came back out for the seventh but a one-out fielding error by Kent at short allowed Hernández to get on base. The C’s catcher scampered to third when Roden singled to right past the glove of Cardona at first base and past a diving Ward at second. That was the end of the night for Van Scoyoc who was replaced by Keegan James. Dasan Brown was plunked in the shoulder by a 92-mile-per-hour to load the bases. De Jesús hit a grounder to third but a high throw from Sems allowed Hernández to score the C’s second run. The ball caromed off the backstop back to Quijada and the Spokane catcher nailed Roden at third after he rounded the bag too far for a 2-6 fielder’s choice. Turconi was then robbed of extra bases on a running catch by Beck toward left-center field for the third out.
Conor Larkin was called in to work the top of the eighth inning for the C’s and he stranded a Martin one-out double off the base of the wall in right with an inning-ending K of Ward.
Luis Amoroso walked Spain with one out in the bottom of the eighth but ended the frame with his second punchout of the frame.
Matt Svanson was asked to lock it down for Vancouver in the top of the ninth. The inning began on a controversial note when Thompson reached base. He hit a slow roller to Turconi at second on a 1-2 pitch but umpire Cousins felt Devonte Brown did not keep his right foot on the first base bag and Turconi was charged with an error. Beck then flared a single to right to put the potential tying run on. The runners moved up 90 feet when Kokoska chopped one to first with Devonte Brown just barely stepping on the bag in time for the first out. Kent then hit a ground ball to second that scored Thompson from third. Turconi ranged over to his left and booted the ball before recovering to throw the ball home as Beck tried to score. It appeared Beck got his left hand on the plate before the tag by Hernández but umpire Shin Koishizawa called Beck out. An infield single to short by Sems moved Kent to second and a wild pitch put the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Svanson then struck out Cordova swinging on a 3-2 pitch to finish the ball game. That was save number five for Svanson to help Dominguez improve to 4-2 on the season.
C-Notes
The Canadians had to bid adieu to catcher Andrés Sosa as he got the call to go to Double-A New Hampshire. The 25-year-old from Hermosillo, Mexico hit .250 with a .396 on-base percentage in 20 games with the C’s. He homered on the first pitch of the year with Vancouver in a May 23 game at Spokane in his return from an oblique injury. The C’s co-MVP of 2022 added three doubles, nine runs batted in and a stolen base. All the best to Andrés in Manchester where he will join fellow C’s MVP Damiano Palmegiani.
Takng Sosa’s place is catcher Kekai Rios who began the year in New Hampshire. The 26-year-old from Kaneohe, Hawaii was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft back on December 7. The 5-foot-10, 206-poond backstop was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 28th round of the 2018 draft before joining the Los Angeles Dodgers organization for the 2022 campaign after being claimed in the 2021 Rule 5 minor league draft.
The right-handed hitting RIos batted .246 with five RBI in 17 games with the Fisher Cats. He will wear number 20 for the C’s, a number previously worn by Braden Scott and pitching coach Joel Bonnett. Scott now wears 22 while Bonnett takes over number 37, vacated by Rainer Nuñez after the big first baseman was promoted to New Hampshire. Bonnett has also worn number 44 this season.
Congratulations go to 2021-2022 Vancouver Canadians Sem Robersse and 2022 hurler Yosver Zulueta as they will take part in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in Seattle on July 8.
Robberse has spent 2023 with New Hampshire and has a 4.54 earned run average with 66 strikeouts in 67-1/3 innings. The 21-year-old from Zeist, Netherlands has not had the best of luck in the win-loss column as he is 0-5 on the year.
It will be the second year in a row for the 25-year-old Zulueta at this event and he may get to throw more than one pitch this time. Last year, he needed just one pitch to retire the only batter he faced to end an inning. The Remedios, Cuba native is 2-2 with a 4.34 ERA with 42 whiffs in 37-1/3 innings at Triple-A Buffalo.
Spokane’s roster will be shorthanded for this series according to Dave Nichols of The Spokesman-Review. Catcher Ronaiker Palma and reliever Bryce McGowan did not make the trip due to travel issues and outfielders Benny Montgomery and Juan Guerrero are out with hand and leg injuries respectively. Montgomery was the eighth overall pick by Colorado in the 2
Vancouver is now at .500 for the second half at 2-2 and are now 40-29 on the season.
The Dog Day of Summer saw 607 canines take in Tuesday’s game along with a sell-out crowd of 6,413.
Kevin Miranda gets the ball for the Canadians in game two against Spokane o Wednesday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV with Tyler Zickel calling the action. Adam Macko and Rafael Sánchez are scheduled to start for Vancouver on Thursday and Friday.
Radar Gun Rundown
Dominguez registered strikeouts at 82, 82 and 83 miles per hour and was at 81-94. Scott was at 75-95 with a strikeout at 92. Larkin had a punchout at 83 and was up to 95. Svanson was at 85-97 with a game-ending strikeout of 87.
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