The Vancouver Canadians thumped the Hillsboro Hops 13-5 at Ron Tonkin Field on Thursday.
Both clubs started the game with a one-out hit with Dasan Brown getting a one-out ground-rule double for Vancouver in the top of the first. Brown made it to third on a Michael Turconi grounder to second but Hops starter Spencer Giesting struck out Alex De Jesús to strand Brown. Manuel Peña reached on an infield single to short after C’s starter Adam Macko struck out Wilderd Patiño to begin the bottom of the first. Peña would get no further.
The Hops would score first in the bottom of the second when Junior Franco reached base on a fielding error at second by Estiven Machado. Franco stole second base and after a strikeout of Kevin Graham, Macko surrendered a ground-rule double to right by Oyen, Alberta native Gavin Logan that scored Franco. Josh Day then homered on the next pitch for a two-run homer to right to make it 3-0 Hillsboro. Macko struck out Kevin Graham and stranded a two-out Patiño single and stolen base.
The bottom of the third began with Macko whiffing Ivan Melendez but he surrendered a two-out solo shot to right by Franco to put the Hops ahead 4-0.
Giesting had a string of eight men retired in a row but that ended when Dasan Brown singled to right and stole his 20th base of the year with one out in the top of the fourth. De Jesús then tripled to right to score Brown and would then come home on a Cade Doughty sacrifice fly to right to make it a 4-2 game. Gabby Martinez and Devonte Brown singled to right and center respectively but they would be left on base.
The game remained 4-2 at the halfway mark as Macko erased a one-out walk to Day by inducing a 4-3 double play from Jesús Valdez in the bottom of the fourth. Dasan Brown draw a two-out walk from Giesting but the Hops hurler picked Brown off to finish his outing.
Naswell Paulino relieved Macko in the bottom of the fifth and was greeted with a bunt single to third by Patiño. A one-out walk by Melendez set up J.J. D’Orazio’s RBI single to left to score Patino to put the Hops up by three. A Graham two-out walk loaded the bases but Paulino kept the run total at one by striking out Logan looking.
Vancouver would get one run back against Hops reliever Logan Clayton. A Turconi triple to center and a De Jesús sac fly to left got the C’s back to within a pair of runs. Doughty had a one-out knock to left and Devonte Brown had a two-out walk but they would be stranded. The game remained 5-3 in favour of Hillsboro after six innings when Paulino overcame a two-out free pass to Patiño.
The Canadians would surge ahead with a one-out rally in the top of the seventh against Clayton. A Roden walk and a Dasan Brown single to center came home on a Turconi triple to left to tie the game at 5-5. Vancouver, BC native Eli Saul subbed in for Clayton but could not strand Turconi as he yielded an RBI single up the middle to De Jesús to give the C’s their first lead at 6-5.
Anders Tolhurst made his Northwest League debut on the hill for Vancouver in the bottom of the seventh and struck out Melendez to begin a 1-2-3 inning.
Vancouver would pile on against Saul in the top of the eighth. Martinez led off with a base hit up the middle and went to second on a one-out walk by Machado. Jommer Hernández lined a single up the gut to bring Martinez with Vancouver’s seventh run. Roden was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Dasan Brown delivered a two-run single to the eight-spot to drive in Machado and Hernández to make it 9-5 Vancouver. Brown stole his second base of the game and he and Roden would score on a Turconi base hit to left to chase Saul from the game.
Tolhurst gave up a leadoff single to right by Graham before getting Logan to tap one back to the mound to start a 1-6-3 double play. A two-out walk to Day was left aboard when Tolhurst struck out Valdez looking.
The Canadians were not done yet in the top of the ninth. Martinez had a leadoff single to left against Peñiel Otaño and went to second on a free pass issued to Devonte Brown. Although Brown was forced out on a 6-4 fielder’s choice by Machado, Hernández produced a run-scoring fly ball to right to bring in Martinez from third. Roden then got a gift triple as a fly ball to left-center dropped in between Franco in left and Patiño in center and that miscommunication allowed Machado to cross the plate.
Conor Larkin saw his first pitch taken up the middle by Patiño for a base hit to begin the bottom of the ninth. The Irish righty rebounded by getting Peña to hit into a 5-4-3 double play and Melendez to line out to third to finish the game. Paulino got the win to pull his record up to 3-3 on the season.
C-Notes
Rafael Sánchez will get the start under the Friday night lights for Vancouver at Ron Tonkin Field. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV at 7:05 p.m.
The C’s second-half record stands at 8-4, which puts them one game ahead of Everett and two ahead of Spokane and Eugene. Vancouver’s overall record is now 46-31.
Congratulations to 2017 Canadians pitcher Nate Pearson for collecting his first major league save. It came during the second game of the Toronto Blue Jays doubleheader sweep against the White Sox in Chicago on Thursday. Big Nate got the final four outs of the game to seal the deal for Toronto.
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