The Vancouver Canadians got past the Tri-City Dust Devils 8-7 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Saturday.
Vancouver righthander Rafael Sánchez was on the slope and struck out the side by fanning Adrian Placencia, Joe Stewart and Alexander Ramirez. However, the Dust Devils scored the first run of the game when a one-out base hit to center field by D’Shawn Knowles came home when Arol Vera drilled a double off the wall in right-center.
Lefthander Nick Horvath got the start for Tri-City and surrendered just a one-out walk to Dasan Brown to keep Tri-City in the lead.
The second inning started with a bloop single to left off the bat of Werner Blakely. Gabby Martinez looked to have a bead on the ball but it dropped in front of him and Blakely hustled into second when Martinez mishandled the ball for an E-7. Andy Blake singled to right with one out to put runners on the corners. Sánchez struck out Myles Emmerson but Blakely and Blake pulled off a double steal. Kekai Rios’ throw to second was returned to the plate by Josh Kasevich but the shortstop’s throw was off the mark. That resulted in Rios clipping Blakely who was able to stretch out and touch the plate for Tri-City’s second run. Sánchez would fan Knowles to end the frame.
A Kasevich leadoff walk from Horvath opened the bottom of the second but Martinez hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Ryan McCarty kept the inning going with a base hit to left and he stole second base. Rios drew a walk and Jeff Wehler singled to center to score McCarty.
Rios was cut down at third on an 8-5 putout to end the rally.
Sanchez set down the Dust Devils in order in the top of the third. In the bottom half, Devonte Brown ripped a single to left just inside the third base line. He had to slam on the brakes as the ball ricocheted off the short left field wall in foul territory, preventing a double. Peyton Williams executed a hit-and-run with a single to right to get Devonte Brown over to third with two outs. Kasevich then ripped a hustle double to left field to score Brown and advance Williams to third.
That was it for Horvath as Andrew Peters took over on the hill for Tri-City and he drilled Martinez in the ear flap of the batting helmet, knocking it right off. Martinez took his base and McCarty also took a base by taking four balls to bring home Williams to put the C’s ahead 3-2.
Sánchez fanned Ramirez and Blakely to shut down Tri-City with a perfect top of the fourth inning. In the bottom half, Devonte Brown walked with one out and swiped second base. He would trot home on a Cade Doughty two-run home run that knocked some pixels out on the C’s Diamond Vision scoreboard in center field. Doughty’s 14th home run of the year gave Vancouver a 5-2 lead.
The Dust Devils got a two-out single from Placencia. Dasan Brown did a good job of getting to the ball in the right-center field gap to prevent Placencia from going to second. After Knowles doubled to right field to get Placencia to third, Stewart hit a chopper to third and beat the throw by Doughty to first, allowing Placencia to score. Williams tried to get Knowles rounding third but he dove back to the bag in time. Vera then singled to right in front of a charging Devonte Brown and that scored Knowles to make it a 5-4 game. Sanchez would retire Ramirez on a fly ball to right to stop the bleeding and complete five innings.
Andre Sánchez was brought in out of the Dust Devils bullpen for the bottom of the fifth. Martinez blooped a one-out single to center and McCarty found a hole in the infield with a single to left but they would be stranded.
Al Pesto made his C’s debut in the top of the sixth and it did not go well. A bunt single in front of the mound by Blakely and a hit by pitch to Coutney started the trouble for the righthander. Consecutive base hits to right by Andy Blake and Myles Emmerson scored Blakely and Coutney to put the Dust Devils ahead 6-5. Pesto fanned Placencia but gave up a double to right by Knowles which scored Blake to put the Dusty Ones up by two. Ryan Boyer entered the contest with runners at second and third. Stewart lined out to right and Devonte Brown unleashed a bullet to get Emmerson at the plate for a 9-2 inning-ending double play. Emmerson argued the call but it was to no avail.
After Andre Sánchez dispatched the C’s in quick order in the bottom of the sixth, Boyer struck out Vera and Ramirez in the top of inning seven. A double just beyond a leaping Martinez in left by Blakely extended the inning but Boyer struck out Coutney to end the frame.
Williams hit one deep to left-center field to begin the bottom of the seventh inning but it died at the warning track as Stewart made a leaping catch in front of the wall. That helped Sánchez retire the side in order.
Sam Ryan replaced Boyer and walked Blake to start his outing. A stolen base and an Emmerson groundout to first got Blake over to third. Another free pass to Placencia put runners on the corners but Ryan got Knowles to hit into a 4-6-3 double play as McCarty handled a bouncer and flipped the ball to Kasevich who made the turn with a strong throw to first to just get Knowles by half a step.
McCarty started the bottom of the eighth with a single to right field against Dust Devils reliever Roman Phansalkar. The righthander struck out the next two batters he faced, including Wehler who was upset with home plate umpire Ken Jackson for ringing him up for a pitch that appeared to be well off the plate. Devonte Brown got aboard with a walk and Dasan Brown singled up the gut to bring in McCarty in with the sixth Canadians run.
Willian Suarez was brought into the game for Tri-City and he surrendered a game-tying single to right by Doughty to drive home Devonte Brown.
Emmerson was charged with a fielding error at the plate and that allowed Dasan Brown to get to third and Doughty to second. Dust Devils manager Jack Howell elected to intentionally walk Williams to load the bases and that decision backfired as Kasevich was hit by a pitch just above the left elbow to bring in Dasan Brown with the go-ahead run.
Justin Kelly preserved the lead with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, striking out Ramirez to close it out.
C-Notes
Sam Ryan now has five wins and no losses on his ledger and Justin Kelly collected save number five of 2023.
Vancouver matched its win total from 2022 with its 67th win of the season against 39 losses. Its second-half mark improves to 29-12.
McCarty decided to go with another Mötley Crüe song as his walkup music before Saturday’s game, switching from ‘Kickstart My Heart’ to ‘Dr. Feelgood’.
The Canadians and Dust Devils conclude this six-game series with Pat Gallagher making his Nat Bailey Stadium debut for the C’s. He is scheduled to throw the first pitch at 1:05 p.m. The game can be heard on CanadiansBaseball.com and streamed on MiLB.TV.
2021-2022 C’s righthander Thomas Ruwe is looking for a new MLB employer. He was released by the Washington Nationals on August 10. He pitched just 15-2/3 innings with the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks this season. He had just been activated from the injured list two days prior.
Radar Gun Rundown
Sanchez was in the 80-94 mile per range with strikeouts at 93, 83, 86, 93 and 92. Pesto was at 81-92 with a punchout at 83. Boyer checked in at 81-92 with strikeouts of 91, 92 and 91. Ryan was at 82-93 and Kelly had a strikeout at 84 and was up to 90.
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