The Vancouver Canadians were edged by the Everett AquaSox 3-2 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Friday.
Vancouver starter Kevin Miranda got an out on the first pitch of the game when Cole Young grounded out to first. Dasan Brown later ran one down in shallow right-center offf the bat of Hogan Windish to help Miranda finish a clean first.
Everett starter Kelvin Nuñez—a last-minute replacement for Jimmy Joyce—-got a generous strike three call on Brown to start the bottom of the first. The first hit of the game was a two-out double to the left field ccrner that turned Mike Salvatore and his number 1 jersey around as the ball went over his head. Salavatore saw another ball go over his head but it was not playable as Cade Doughty blasted one over the fence in left to make it 2-0 Vancouver.
The AquaSox got their first hit when Salvatore singled to left with two out but Miranda put up another zero in the top of the second.
Jeff Wehler had a one-out single to right in the bottom of the second but was thrown out trying to steal second though it appeared he slid in slafely with his feet first slide. That was the only baserunner of the inning.
WIth one out in the top of the third, Erik Stock singled ro right and thought about going to second but Garrett Spain did a nice job to cut off the ball in the right-center field gap to hold Stock to a long single. Stock would run around the bases to score on a Young double on a 0-2 pitch to. center field. Miranda kept Young 180 feet away by striking out Ford and getting Hogan Windish to pop out to short.
Lyle Lin hit one on the button but lined out to Young at short to start a perfect bottom of the third inning for Nuñez.
Ben Ramirez lifted a lazy fly ball that landed just fair down the first base line for a leadoff single in the top of the fourth. Axel Sánchez lined a ball that looked to be going at first but it was right at Gabby Martinez in left for a loud first out. That was the first of three men set down by Mrianda to get out of the inning.
Tim Elliott relieved Nunez in the bottom of the fourth and put up a 1-2-3 stanza. Miranda did likewise in the top of the firth, getting some nice glovework from Lin at first base who made a diving stop to his backhand at first and flipped the ball to Miranda covering the first base bag to retire Young for the third out.
The C’s got their first men on against Elliott in the bottom of the fifth when Josh Kasevich singled to left and Weher walked. Wehler was again retired on the basepaths when Ford picked him off from behind the plate for a 2-3 putout. Lin drew a two-out walk but the Canadians would not score.
Southpaw Naswell Paulino took over for Miranda in the top of the sixth and walked Ford to begin his outing. A Jommer Hernández passed ball moved Ford up to second before Windish pounded a 3-2 pitch to the home run porch in left field to put the Frogs ahead 3-2. Sánchez barely beat out an infield single to short, just beating the throw from Turconi with one out. Salvatore blooped a single to left but Hernández threw out Sánchez trying to steal third on a double steal attempt. Salvatore was stranded at second when Parker grounded out to third.
Leon Hunter relieved Elliott in the home half of the sixth and yielded a flare single to Doughty that just stayed fair down the right field but that was it for the C’s offence.
Ryan Boyer struck out Randy Bednar and Stock to start a perfect top of the sevneth. Sam Carlson entered the game for Everett in the bottom half of the frame and Wehler got aboard by stroking a single to center with one out. Again, Wehler’s stay on base was not for a good time or a long time as he was thrown out trying to swipe second by Ford.
Boyer’s sttring of five men in. a row retired ended with a Ramirez single to right but he struck out Sánchez to wrap up the top of the eighth.
Kyle Hill got some help from his center fielder to begin the bottom of the eighth as Bendar robbed Lin with a diving catch in left-center. Brown walked with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and tagged up to go to third on a Spain fly out to center. The Oakville Flash would be stranded at third when Turconi struck out.
Conor Larkin had a quiet top of the ninth to hold the line for the C’s offence. Logan Rinehart gave up a one-out single to left by Martinez and advanced to second when Kasevich bounced out to the mound. The game ended on a Wehner grounder to third.
C-Notes
The C’s second-half record is now 20-8 and 58-34 overall. The series continues on Saturday night with another 7:05 p.m. first pitch. That will be thrown by Michael Dominguez on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV. Rafael Sánchez is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale at 1:05 p.m.
The Toronto Blue Jays have released 2021 Canadians infielder L.J. Talley. The 2019 seventh-round pick out of Georgia never played in Vancouver as he was sent to the Lansing Lugnuts to begin his pro career. He did put on a C’s uniform in 2021 when the team was exiled to Hillsboro due to the pandemic closing the border. The Folkston, Georgia native only played in seven games with Monty’s Mounties, batting .304 in 23 at-bats. He was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in 2021 before splitting time with the Fisher Cats and the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in 2022. He was back with the Herd in 2023 but had spent two stints on the Development List. Talley had a 6-for-6 game in Gwinnett on April 30 in which he had two doubles, four runs batted in and four runs scored. The 26-year-old batted .240 over his four seasons in the Blue Jays system. All the best to L.J. in his future endeavours.
Radar Gun Rundown
Miranda was clocked at 79-90 miles per hour with strikeouts at 82 and 80, Paulino was at 77-92. Boyer checked in from 81-94 with strikeouts at 93, 93 and 81. Larkin was at 80 and had a strikeout at 83.
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