The Vancouver Canadians outslugged the Spokane Indians 9-8 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Saturday.
Righthander Rafael Sánchez started this one for the C’s and retired the side in order in the top of the first, getting some nice defence on a Braiden Ward grounder to short as Peyton Williams made a nice stretch to keep his foot on the bag on the throw from Josh Kasevich.
The second inning did not start nearly as well for Sánchez as Ryan Ritter beat out an infield single to short before Nic Kent lined one over the head of Gabby Martinez for a double to left. Robby Martin Jr. then singled to center to score Ritter with the game’s first run. Sànchez struck out Sems but Spokane stole another run with Martin drawing a throw to second on a double steal. Martin was tagged out in a 2-6-4 rundown but Kent scored to make it 2-0 Spokane. Sànchez then fanned Ordonez to end the inning.
Spokane starter Victor Juarez hit Ryan McCarty with a pitch with one out. Williams fouled out to first as Juarez nearly collided near the netting with his catcher Jesus Ordoñez. McCarty stole second with two out but he would be stranded to end the bottom of the first.
The C’s got another base runner aboard with one out when Martinez drew a walk off Juarez. Garrett Spain spanked a double off the right field wall before a Jeff Wehler sacrifice fly to center cashed in Martinez with Vancouver’s first run.
Cuba Bess worked a leadoff walk against Sánchez to begin the top of the third and was bunted over to second by Ward. Benny Montgomery struck out swinging and Juan Guerrero flew out to center to get Sánchez off the hook.
Vancouver got a two-out rally going against Juarez in the bottom of the third. Williams worked a four-pitch walk and Cade Doughty hit a two-run home run off the left field fair pole—his 16th of the year—to give the C’s their first lead of the series since Tuesday’s night walk-off win.
A strikeout of Ritter was how Sánchez started the top of the fourth before leaning on his defence to get the final two outs. Kasevich ranged well to his right at short and sent a one-hop throw to first to just get Kent by half-a-step. The inning ended when Martin lined one to the warning track in center but Spain chased it down for the third out.
Vancouver had another two-out opportunity in the bottom of the fourth. The second out came when Spain struck out on an unusual foul tip. Ordoñez could not grab the ball cleanly with his glove but managed to snare it with his bare hand for the strikeout. After Wehler singled to center and Jommer Hernández singled to left. Devonte Brown grounded out into a 6-5 fielder’s choice that just forced out Wehler at third to end the frame.
In the top of the fifth, Sánchez struck out Bess to conclude a perfect stanza and in the bottom half, McCarty got a hold of one to say the least as his blast to center field cleared the wall over the manual scoreboard to make it 4-2 Vancouver. The blast was measured at 435 feet.
The top of the sixth started with Sánchez walking Ward before a stolen base put the Tribe’s leadoff hitter in scoring position. One out later, a throwing error by Doughty at third on a Guerrero bunt single allowed Ward to score but Wehler chased down the ball in foul territory from second and threw the ball to Kasevich for a 4-6 putout. Sánchez then struck out Ritter to complete the quality start of three runs allowed (two earned) over six innings.
Vancouver got another long ball in the bottom of the sixth against Spokane reliever Anderson Bido. Spain got a hold of one by homering over the right field fence to restore the C’s two-run lead at 5-3. Hernández fought off a Juarez pitch for an opposite-field single to right with two outs. Brown then hit into deep to the warning track in right field but it wound up into the glove of Martin to end the rally.
Lefty Ian Churchill entered the game and hit Martin and Sems with a pitch with one out. The former led to the ejection of C’s manager Brent Lavallee by home plate umpire Ken Jackson. Ordoñez doubled down the left field line to score Martin with the fourth Spokane run. That was the first run Churchill allowed with the C’s, ending a scoreless string of 13-1/3 innings. The southpaw then struck out Bess looking and retired Ward on a fly ball to right as Brown ran it down for the third out, stranding two runners in scoring position.
The Canadians would respond again after the seventh-inning stretch when things got fast and furious with five consecutive pitches put into play. McCarty started it with a single to left field, Williams singled to right and Doughty got a base hit up the gut to drive in McCarty to give Vancouver a 6-4 lead. A Kasevich fielder’s choice to short forced out Doughty but a throwing error by Ritter allowed Williams to cross the plate with Vancouver’s seventh run. Martinez singled to right to get Kasevich over from second to third. Kasevich tried to score on a Spain ground ball at third but he was blocked at the plate by Ordoñez and was tagged out. Third base coach Danny Cañellas and Kasevich both argued Ordoñez did not provide a clear path to the plate for Kasevich but umpire Jackson did not agree.
Vancouver looked to have added more window dressing in the bottom of the eighth against Spokane reliever Brett Matthews. Hernández walked but was forced out when Ritter made a diving stop on a Brown grounder to short for a 6-4 fielder’s choice. Brown stole second base and came home on a two-out single to center by Williams to make it 8-4.
After Conor Larkin had a perfect eighth inning, he came back out for the ninth but ran into trouble by plunking Kent with a pitch. A single to left by Martin and a Sems walk loaded the bases before another walk to Ordoñez scored Kent with the fifth Spokane run. Larkin struck out Bess for the first out before yielding a Ward sac fly to right to drive in Martin with the sixth run for the Tribe. Montgomery had a base knock to center to score Sems to make it a one-run game. Pinch-runner Parker Kelly—who replaced Ordoñez after his RBI walk—was able to steal home and score the tying run after Hernández tried to throw out Montgomery trying to swipe second on a double steal. That meant Sánchez would have to wait another day for his first win in a C’s uniform. Guerrero—who was behind 0-2 in the count at the time of the double steal—hit a fly to shallow right that was caught by Wehler to send the game to the home half of the ninth.
Tyler Ahearn was on the hill for Spokane and got the first two outs before surrendering a Spain home run to right to walk it off for the C’s. The former Austin Peay Governor’s 12th homer of the year also produced Vancouver’s 12th walk-off win of the season.
C-Notes
Conor Larkin was the winning pitcher as his record improved to 3-1. Vancouver is 73-48 on the season and 35-18 in the second half. Everett is four games back of Vancouver for first place in the second half and is four up on Eugene for the right to face Monty’s Mounties in the Northwest League final.
The Canadians placed righthander Pat Gallagher on the 7-day injured list. He has been starting on Sundays for the team since his call-up from Dunedin on August 1. Anders Tolhurst will throw the first pitch instead for Sunday’s finale at 1:05 p.m. Tyler Zickel will call the game on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV.
Radar Gun Rundown
Rafael Sánchez struck out batters at 85, 85, 84, 87, 88 and 87 miles an hour and was up to 97. Ian Churchill had a strikeout of 79 and touched 95. Conor Larkin was at 79 and had a strikeout at 94.
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