The Vancouver Canadians stunned the Spokane Indians with a 2-1 victory in 10 innings at Nat Bailey Stadium on Tuesday.
Vancouver starter Adam Macko and his Spokane counterpart Jarrod Cande stated their cases for next week’s Northwest League Pitcher of the Week award.
Macko had a three-up, three-down inning in the first by striking out Benny Montgomery and Juan Guerrero after Braiden Ward was thrown out trying to bunt his way aboard on a 3-4 putout. The top of the second saw the lefty fan Ryan Ritter on the way to another perfect frame.
Cande also retired the side in order in the first two innings. Devonte Brown just got under one by flying out to the left field corner on the first pitch he saw to begin the game and Peyton Williams hit one to the warning track in center to end the first.
The first hit of the game came from Robby Martin Jr. who led off the top of the third with an infield single to second. Jesus Ordoñez bunted Martin over to second on a 1-3 play but Macko kept Martin 180 feet away with inning-ending punchouts of A.J. Lewis swinging and Ward looking. Ward tried to sell a hit-by-pitch on the first pitch he saw from Macko by sticking his left elbow out into the path of the ball. However, home plate umpire Ken Jackson ruled the Spokane designated hitter did not attempt to get out of the way. C’s broadcaster Tyler Zickel said afterward, ‘Hey Braiden! The Chicken Dance is not until the sixth (inning).”
The Canadians got their first hit to start their half of the third inning. Gabby Martinez hit a roller up the third base line and it appeared to be touched by the catcher Ordoñez before it rolled foul. Despite the protestations of Ordoñez and Spokane skipper Robinson Cancel, Martinez was credited with an infield knock. Martinez was forced out on an Estiven Machado 3-6 fielder’s choice. Machado was then thrown out trying to steal second by Ordonez on a 2-4 putout. Jommer Hernández was plunked in the left arm by Cande but he would be stranded.
In the top of the fourth, Macko struck out Montgomery swinging and Guerrero and Ritter looking. Dasan Brown singled to start the bottom of the fourth for the C’s but Cande got the next three men in order.
A Nic Kent double down the left field line past a diving Cade Doughty at third got the top of the fifth started for Spokane. That was the only ball the visitors put into play as Macko struck out the side again by striking out Parker Kelly looking and Martin and Ordoñez looking.
After Cande pitched a spotless bottom of the fifth despite a Garrett Spain drive just short of the warning track in right, lefty Ian Churchill replaced fellow southpaw Adam Macko on the mound for Vancouver for an eventful top of the sixth. He fell behind Lewis at three balls and no strikes before rallying to strike him out. Churchill then had trouble with a Ward bunt in front of the mound and was charged with an error. Despite another 3-0 count to Montgomery, Churchill battled back with three consecutive strikes again for a second strikeout. Ward stole second base but Churchill ended the frame with a Guerrero groundout to short.
Hernández led off with a deep drive to the warning track in center in the bottom of the sixth but Cande again soured the C’s offence with another scoreless stanza.
Churchill had a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, getting help from Machado who showed “testicular fortitude” in knocking down a sharp ground ball at second by Kent before completing the 4-3 putout. Kelly then struck out to send the game to the bottom of the seventh. Cande blew up Williams’ bat and threw out the C’s first baseman for the first out. Josh Kasevich singled to left with two outs but Cande reached the century mark in his pitching count with an inning-ending whiff of Spain.
Conor Larkin dominated the Spokane bats in the top of the eighth by fanning Martin, Ordoñez and Ward. Cullen Kafka took over for Cande in the bottom of the inning and overcame a Machado walk to send the game to the ninth.
Larkin had another perfect inning in the top of the ninth by whiffing Ward and Guerrero to begin and end the frame. The game went into overtime when Luis Amoroso set down the C’s in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Southpaw Naswell Paulino was summoned from the Vancouver bullpen for the top of the 10th inning. With Guerrero as the placed runner at second, he was bunted over to third by Ritter. Kent came up swinging and fouled off the first pitch he saw from Paulino before executing a safety squeeze up the first base side. The second of two 1-3 sacrifice bunts scored Guerrero with the game’s first run. Paulino would end the inning by striking out Kelly.
Spokane turned to its closer Angel Chivilli to work the bottom of the 10th inning. Doughty was the placed runner at second and he was accompanied on base by fellow 2022 Blue Jays second-round pick Kasevich who was hit in the left elbow on Chivilli’s first pitch. One out later, Martinez singled to center to drive in Doughty with the tying run. Two pitches later, Machado busted out of an 0-for-18 slump with a double down the right field line to bring in Kasevich with the winning run.
C-Notes
Naswell Paulino upped his record to 6-4 on the season as the C’s are 30 games above .500 at 72-42 with a second-half mark of 34-15. Vancouver has won 11 games in walk-off fashion. Everett is seven games back and Eugene is 10 games behind in the second-half standings. Both the AquaSox and Emeralds lost on Tuesday. The second-place winner will face the Canadians in the Northwest League final.
The Canadians go with Devereaux Harrison on the mound for the second game of this six-game set. The first pitch is at 7:05 p.m. on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV. Tyler Zickel will have the play-by-play.
The C’s will send Kevin Miranda and Hunter Gregory to the bump on Thursday and Friday.
Devonte Brown reverted back to number 5 as his uniform number after wearing number 10 on the road last week in Eugene. Catcher Lyle Lin had been wearing number 10 before he was called up to Double-A New Hampshire.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman and co-MVP of the 1981 World Series Ron Cey was at The Nat to sign autographs on Tuesday. Cey mentioned on Tuesday’s broadcast that he was in Maui recently and was stranded there with his family for three days without power or communication due to the wildfire situation.
2018 and 2021 Canadians righthander Cobi Johnson has retired according to the transactions column on CanadiansBaseball.com. The former Florida State hurler missed all of the 2022 season after undergoing surgery to repair a Grade 4 tear of his latissimus dorsi tendon according to his Instagram account. Johnson returned to the mound with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays in late July and helped the F-Jays complete a no-hitter with a shutout eighth inning against the FCL Phillies on August 7. The son of former Blue Jays pitcher Dane Johnson was promoted to Dunedin and made two appearances with the Blue Jays. His final appearance was a scoreless frame despite giving up a hit and two walks against Clearwater on August 15.
A 30th-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2018, Johnson burst onto the scene with the Canadians that year, going 10-for-10 in save opportunities with a 1-0 record and a 1.73 earned run average. He was named a Northwest League All-Star. Johnson returned to the C’s in 2021 during the pandemic year in Hillsboro and did not have the same amount of success as he had a 6.42 ERA over 40-2/3 innings. Johnson totalled 85 strikeouts over 56-2/3 innings, going a perfect 12-for-12 in save opportunities and collecting two wins and four holds during his two-year tenure with Monty’s Mounties. All the best to Cobi in his future endeavours.
C’s Alumni Update
2016 Canadians outfielder Josh Palacios had a night to remember as he homered and drove in five runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 11-1 win over Josh’s younger brother Richie Palacios and the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on Monday. 2018 C’s infielder Vinny Capra also had a pinch-hit single for the Bucs.
Radar Gun Rundown
Macko had strikeouts at 85, 97, 81, 95, 96, 97, 80, 89, 75 and 85 miles per hour. Churchill was at 80 with strikeouts of 84, 93 and 95. Larkin had Ks of 95, 80, 81, 82 and 79. Paulino’s punchout was at 85.
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