The Vancouver Canadians posted a come-from-behind 6-5 win over the Hillsboro Hops at Ron Tonkin Field on Saturday.
The C’s got a pair of one-out walks in the first inning by Devonte Brown and Alex De Jesús and a Garrett Spain single to start the second but Hops starter Yilber Diaz prevented them from going anywhere.
Hillsboro took a first-inning lead against C’s starter Abdiel Mendoza as he missed the strike zone on his first four pitches to Wilderd Patiño. The Hops leadoff hitter then stole second base and scored on a Manuel Peña single to right field. Peña managed to advance to third on an Ivan Melendez grounder to third and would also cross home plate on a Jommer Hernández passed ball. Mendoza would strike out J.J. D’Orazio on the way to getting out of the inning.
The Hops tacked on another run against Mendoza. A pair of leadoff free passes to Kevin Graham and Gavin Logan moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly to left by S.P. Chen brought in Graham to make it 3-0 Hillsboro. Mendoza kept Logan from scoring with a strikeout of Patiño to eventually get out of the stanza.
Vancouver got another runner on when Estiven Machado was hit by a pitch and got to second base when Dasan Brown tapped back to the mound but Diaz set down the next two hitters to keep the C’s off the board.
Mendoza turned in his first perfect inning by ending the bottom of the third with a strikeout of Jesús Valdez.
Vancouver got another runner on base in the fourth when Spain drew a walk with two outs and swiped second but Diaz put up another zero on the scoreboard.
Lefthander Cooper Benson came into the game in the bottom of the fourth and allowed just one ball into play, a fielding error by De Jesús at third base that allowed Logan to reach first with one out. Benson would strike out the side with his victims being Graham, Brett Johnson and Chen.
Diaz had his first perfect frame of the night by sending the C’s away in the top of the fifth. Benson had trouble finding his groove in the bottom of the frame as he handed out a free pass to Patiño before a double to right by Peña. Melendez then heard ball four to load the bases with nobody out and that set up a D’Orazio sacrifice fly to center to score Patiño with run number four for Hillsboro. Benson struck out Valdez and kept the damage to one run when the Hops tried to execute a double steal but the 2-6-2 play resulted in Machado throwing out Peña at the plate to keep the C’s deficit at four.
The Canadians finally got to Diaz when Devonte Brown hit his second home run in as many nights, his seventh of the year, to start the sixth inning. Cade Doughty was robbed of an extra-base hit when Valdez made a diving catch toward the third base line to prevent Vancouver from gaining momentum.
Benson kept the C’s to within three with a three-up, three-down bottom of the sixth that began with the former Arizona State product striking out Graham and ended it with Johnson caught looking at strike three to give him six Ks.
Diaz was able to complete seven innings but not before he was victimized for an unearned run. Lyle Lin hit a double to right field with one out. He got to third on a wild pitch and got up to score when Logan’s throw to third missed the mark.
Eric Pardinho took care of Hillsboro with a perfect seventh inning when he threw out Patiño on a bunt attempt and struck out Peña for out number three.
Southpaw Carlos Meza was the first Hops reliever of the night when he was summoned to work the top of the eighth. Dasan Brown got aboard as he fought off an inside pitch to bounce an opposite-field single to right to start the frame. A De Jesús walk and a wild pitch set up Doughty who singled to right to score Dasan Brown and De Jesús to tie the game and flush Diaz’s chances for a win down the toilet. The rally fizzled when Doughty was caught stealing second on a delayed steal attempt.
Pardinho continued his perfection into the eighth when he struck out Melendez looking and Valdez swinging to send the game to the ninth.
Lefthander Liam Norris gave up the lead for Hillsboro when Lin took him deep to left for a solo home run against his former team to put his current team ahead 5-4. Norris would walk the bases loaded with a couple of wild pitches in the mix as Hernández, Machado and Dasan Brown worked the count to ball four. Vancouver, BC native Eli Saul took over for Norris with two outs and he would walk De Jesús, his third base on balls on the night, to bring home Hernández with the sixth Canadians run.
After setting down seven in a row thanks to a strikeout of Graham, Pardinho served up a long ball to Logan to left-center field to make it a one-run game. The first professional homer by the Oyen, Alberta native was as close as Hillsboro got as Pardinho retired the next two hitters, including a fly out to left by Chen to pick up his first win of the year to even his record at 1-1.
C-Notes
Lin came into the game with one professional home run on his resume. It came back in 2021 in his first game with Double-A Amarillo when he hit a two-run shot against Cole Ragans on August 8 during his time in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Lin was a member of the Hops during their 2019 championship season and in 2022.
The C”s collected their 10th win of the second half to up their record to 10-4. They carry a two-game lead over Everett for first place and a three-game advantage over Eugene and Spokane. Vancouver’s overall record is now 48-31.
The C’s and Hops wrap up this six-game set on Sunday afternoon for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. The game is available on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV. Devereaux Harrison gets the starting assignment for Vancouver. After this, the club will enjoy a four-day break before returning home for a Friday night game against Eugene to open a three-game weekend series.
C-Changes
Lefthander Naswell Paulino has been promoted to Double-A New Hampshire according to the transactions page at CanadiansBaseball.com. The 23-year-old from San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic had been with Monty’s Mounties since the start of the 2022 season. Paulino was 3-3 with a 4.19 earned run average over 22 relief appearances in which he struck out 30 batters in 34-1/3 innings this year. His two-year totals with the C’s include four holds, six wins, 117 strikeouts and 120-2/3 innings over 42 relief outings and 10 starts. All the best to Nas in Manchester. He will be missed.
Dahian Santos was scheduled to start Saturday’s game for the C’s but the righthander was placed on the seven-day injured list instead according to the transactions page at CanadiansBaseball.com. Abdiel Mendoza got the spot start instead as he, Cooper Benson and Eric Pardinho tossed three innings apiece in the Canadians comeback victory.
The walking wounded for Vancouver as far as the seven-day injured list goes includes righthanders Ryan Jennings and C.J. Van Eyk and infielders Josh Kasevich and Peyton Williams. On the 60-day IL are righties Winder Garcia, Donnie Sellers and Geison Urbaez. The full-season list is occupied by northpaws Ben Baggett and Roither Hernández and southpaw Mackenzie Mueller.
C-Alumni Update
Two former C’s righthanders Sem Robberse (2021-2022) and Yosver Zulueta (2022) represented the Toronto Blue Jays during the MLB All-Star Futures Games in Seattle on Saturday. It was a mixed outing for the pair as they gave up three runs between them in the sixth but Robberse struck out one and Zulueta fanned two. It was Zulueta’s second straight appearance at the event.
C-Tweets
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