The Vancouver Canadians rallied again to beat the Eugene Emeralds 5-3 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Sunday.
Rafael Sánchez got the start for Vancouver and sandwiched a pair of groundouts to first with a strikeout of Carter Howell for a perfect first frame. He also worked a spotless second inning with three groundball outs, ending both stanzas by covering the bag on a grounder to first from Jared Dupere and Matt Higgins respectively.
Two-way player Reggie Crawford—the 30th overall pick by San Francisco in the 2022 MLB Draft—made his Northwest League debut on the mound. The lefty dialled it up to 99 in the bottom of the first but he walked Dasan Brown and Michael Turconi with one out before Cade Doughty singled to center with two out to score Brown. Turconi was caught between second and third and was retired on an 8-1-5 play to end the inning.
The Emeralds went to 6-foot-9 lefthander Hayden Wynja to work the top of the second inning. Josh Kasevich doubled down the left field line with one out and Devonte Brown followed with a walk but they would not go any further.
After retiring the first eight hitters he faced, Sánchez gave up a single to center field by Edison Mora but that was the only hit in the top of the third as Sanchez struck out Grant McCray. In the bottom half of the inning, a Turconi one-out single to center off Wynja did not amount to anything.
Howell began the top of the fourth with a leadoff walk against Sánchez. Dupere struck out swinging before Sean Roby hit a chopper to Kasevich who charged in from short to just get Roby by a step. Sánchez then got out of the frame by getting Luis Toribio to ground out to second.
The Canadians began their fourh at-bat with another one-out baserunner when Kasevich earned a walk against Wynja but Devonte Brown hit into an inning-ending around-the-horn double play.
Sánchez kept the Emeralds offence confined within the diamond in the bottom of the fifth, getting two groundouts and a pop-up to short off the bat of Brett Auerbach.
In the top of the fifth, the C’s got somonne on base with one out yet again as Roden drew a base on balls. Roden swiped second base before Dasan Brown also heard ball four. After a visit to the mound from Emeralds pitching coach Alain Quijano, Wynja got Turconi to rap into a 4-6-3 double play
A defensive charge was made at short for Vancouver as Estiven Machado replaced Kasevich for the top of the sixth. Eugene got a man in scoring position with one out when McCray was credited with a double to left field. Gabby Martinez had a long way to run but could not hold on to the ball as it clanked off his glove near the left field corner. Dupere walked with two away but Sánchez got Roby to pop out to Machado who chased the ball down just inside the left field foul line for the third out.
Tanner Kiest was called in to work the sixgth and yet again, the C’s got someone aboard with one away. This time, Doughty did not stop at first. He was able to circle the bases with a home run for the 10th time this season. The ball went to the seating area of the Canadians left field bullpen to put the home side ahead 2-0.
After six stellar shutout innings from Sanchez, Eric Pardinho took over the mound in the top of the seventh for Vancouver. He gave up a leadoff knock to right by Toribio and a one-out single to center by Aeverson Arteaga but he got the next two batters including an inning-ending whiff of Mora to keep Eugene off the board.
William Kempner was next out of the Em’s bullpen and he handed out a free pass to the first man he faced in Devonte Brown. The former North Carolina Wolfpack product stole second base and got to third on a Roden grounder to second but Dasan Brown grounded out to third for the third out.
Justin Kelly entered the contest in the top of the eighth and surrendered a leadoff home to right by McCray to cut the C’s lead in half. That was the start of some ugly memories of last year’s Northwest League final. Kelly fanned Dupere for the second out but Roby kept the inning going with a base hit to right. Another ghost of NWL finals past Luis Toribio then doubled over the head of a leaping Martinez in left-center to drive in Roby with the tying run.
Hunter Dula took the ball for Eugene in the bottom of the eighth and despite falling behind in the count by two balls to all three batters he faced, he worked a clean inning to keep the game tied.
Anders Tolhurst made his Nat Bailey Stadium debut in the top of the ninth but things did not go according to Hoyle when he served up a long ball to lefty by Arteaga to begin the ninth. Machado showed off his strong arm at short by firing a seed to first after a backhand stop to retire Auerbach. Tolhurst eventually ended the frame with a strikeout of McCray.
With Dula back on the mound for Eugene, Martinez drew a walk to start the home half of the ninth. The C’s left fielder was given a new life at the plate when Roby failed to make a catch in foul territory near first base even though he appeared to have a bead on the ball. Machado then drew a walk to represent the potential go-ahead run. Even though Brett Standlee was warming up in the Eugene bullpen, he did not come into the game. Dula was left in to face Devonte Brown and that was a mistake as ‘Devo’ homered into the C’s bullpen for a three-run shot to walk it off for Monty’s Mounties. Brown’s ninth homer of the year resulted in Tolhurst getting the win.
C-Notes
Lost in the shuffle of Brown’s walk-off homer was Sánchez’s best start in a Vancouver uniform. He scattered just two hits and two walks over six shutout innings to lower his earned run average to 5.40. Unfortunately, Sánchez is still looking for his first Northwest League victory.
The C’s overall record goes to 51-32 on the season and 13-5 in the second half. They remain three games ahead of Everett in the second-half standings after Everett also walked off Hillsboro at Funko Field on Sunday.
The Canadians travel to Eastern Washington to begin a six-game series against the Spokane Indians on Tuesday. Tyler Zickel will have the broadcast on CanadiansBaseball.com from Avista Stadium beginning at 6:35 p.m.
Kevin Miranda (#17) hugs Alan Roden after Roden received word of his promotion to Double-A New Hampshire on Sunday.
C-Changes
Outfielder Alan Roden found out after Sunday’s game that he was getting the call-up to Double-A New Hampshire. That was made evident by the numerous hugs he received from the players and coaching staff on the field in the aftermath of Devonte Brown’s walk-off dinger. The former Creighton Bluejay saw his 14-game hitting streak end but he ends his time in YVR with a 15-game on-base streak after drawing a walk. Roden slashed .321/..437/.459 with 23 doubles, one triple and four home runs. He knocked home 41 runs, walked 42 times and stole 15 bases in 17 attempts in 57 games. All the best to Alan with New Hampshire FC.
The Toronto Blue Jays have released 2021-2022 Vancouver Canadians first baseman P.K. Morris. The Tampa, Florida native was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 14th round of the 2017 MLB Draft from Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Florida. Morris enjoyed perhaps his finest moment in his pro career with the C’s last year when he was named the Northwest League Player of the Week last May. He excelled with runners in scoring position by hitting .342 with an OPS of 1.1488 in 2022 This season, Morris batted just .172 in 45 games at New Hampshire but still showed a good eye at the plate with a .313 on-base percentage. The 24-year-old also spent two stints on the Development List. All the best to P.K. in his future endeavours.
Radar Gun Rundown
Sanchez was clocked from 82-94 miles per hour and struck out batters at 93 and 84. Pardinho fanned a batter at 84 and was up to 95. Kelly was at 84 and had a K at 92. Tolhurst was at 82-94 with a whiff at 85.
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