The Vancouver Canadians blanked the Everett AquaSox 3-0 in Game 1 of the Northwest League Championship Series at Funko Field on Tuesday.
Reigning Northwest League Pitcher of the Week Adam Macko did not start the game the way he wanted as he plunked Cole Young in the right hand with his second pitch of the game to start the bottom of the first inning. Harry Ford then lifted a shallow fly ball near the right field line that Jeff Wehler managed to chase down from second base with a diving catch for the first out.
Two batters later, Macko was out of the inning as he struck out Hogan Windish for the third out.
Everett lefty Reid VanScoter had a 1-2-3 first inning but he drilled Peyton Williams in the back with his first pitch in the top of the second. Gabby Martinez followed with a single to left field and one out later, Ryan McCarty kept an opposite-field drive just fair down the right field line and it caromed off the metal bench of the C’s bullpen area to score Williams with the game’s first run.
Dasan Brown made a bid for an RBI single but he could not quite get the ball over the head of a leaping Young at short and he ran to second base to double off McCarty at second.
A two-out walk to Walking Cabrera was stranded by Macko in the bottom of the second inning. The C’s lefty began the frame with a strikeout of Ben Ramirez and ended it by fanning Bill Knight, who lost the handle of his bat earlier in his plate appearance as it flew into the third base seats while the ball went foul down the first base side.
The Frogs got their second leadoff man aboard when Macko walked Blake Rambusch in the bottom of the third. C’s catcher Jommer Hernández was shaken up on a foul ball off the bat of Young but he stayed in the game and later threw out Rambusch trying to steal second with Josh Kasevich applying the tag from short. Young would also draw a walk but Ford flew out to right as Garrett Spain was able to run it down. Gabriel Gonzalez then popped up to Wehler at second to end the frame.
VanScoter had perfect frames in the bottom of the third and fourth that bracketed Macko’s first spotless inning in the top of the fourth which included a called strikeout of Windish.
Vancouver would get to VanScoter in the top of the fifth when McCarty got his second double of the game, this time pulling one down the left field line past a diving Ben Ramirez at third and into the left field corner. Brown followed that one-out extra-base hit with an 11-pitch walk. Hernández then sprayed an opposite-field double to right just out of the reach of Gonzalez as the ball just went off the top of his glove. That allowed McCarty to make the C’s fans in attendance feel alright when he crossed the plate to score the C’s second run. Van Scoter limited the damage by fanning Josh Kasevich and getting Wehler to pop up to second.
The AquaSox threatened to get on the board against Macko in the bottom of the fifth. Knight was hit by a pitch with one out before Macko struck out Rambusch for the second out. Young was credited with an infield single to first as Macko covered the first base bag but could not hang on to the throw from Williams at first base. Knight was able to get to third on the play. Ford walked to load the bases but Wehler made another big defensive play at second. He knocked down a ball at second base and recovered in time to throw out Gonzalez and turn the AquaSox away.
After Van Scoter retired all three men he faced in the top of the sixth, Leam Mendez was brought in for the top of the sixth for the C’s. He walked Windish before getting more stellar defence from the C’s infield, this time from Doughty who made a diving stop at third on a grounder by Ramirez and threw the ball to second to force out Windish. A Josh Hood walk ended the night for Mendez but lefty Ian Churchill put out the fire with consecutive strikeouts of Cabrera and Knight to send the game to the top of the seventh.
Kyle Hill relieved Van Scoter and issued a leadoff walk to Spain. His next pitch to McCarty would be his last as the righthander hobbled off the mound. Troy Taylor took over and McCarty would flare a single to right to advance Spain to third. A Brown groundout to first that Windish had to dive for to his right got Spain home with run number three for Vancouver. Hernández grounded out to first to advance the two runners 90 feet but Kasevich struck out to stop the rally.
Churchill struck out Rambusch for the first out of the bottom of the seventh but a single to right by Young and an infield knock by Ford that Doughty could only knock down on the third base line brought the potential tying run to the dish. Gonzalez hit into a 3-6 fielder’s choice to force Ford at second and Windish flew out to center for out number three.
Taylor turned in a spotless stanza in the top of the eighth and Churchill put up a zero in the bottom of the frame, working around a Hood single to left with one out by striking out Cabrera and retiring Knight on a fly out to right.
The Canadians looked to pad their lead in the ninth against Reid Morgan when Martinez singled to center just out of the reach of a diving Young at short. Spain smashed a line drive that went off Windish’s glove for a double to right to put two men on but Martinez was cut down at the plate as Windish took a McCarty grounder to first and threw to Ford for the 3-2 fielder’s choice. A Brown 4-6 fielder’s choice forced McCarty at second as Hood made a diving stop to keep the ball from going into center field. Brown stole second base uncontested to join Spain in scoring position but Morgan struck out Hernández to conclude the inning.
The C’s turned to Ryan Boyer to pitch the ninth and he yielded a single to right by Rambusch to start the frame. Boyer induced a comebacker to the mound by Young and forced out Rambusch on a 1-6 fielder’s choice as Kasevich was able to make a nice scoop on Boyer’s low throw. Martinez ran down a Ford fly ball in left field foul territory, making the catch on the edge of the mound in the Everett bullpen. Gonzalez then grounded out to Doughty at third to end the game.
C-Notes
Macko earned his first postseason win, Mendez and Churchill picked up their first holds and Boyer got his first save. It was only fitting Macko got the honour of starting Game 1 of the playoffs after he was denied the Opening Day start back in April when Vancouver’s three-game series against Spokane at Nat Bailey Stadium was rained out.
The Canadians were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position with six men left on base while the Frogs were 0-for-5 with a dozen runners left on the basepaths.
Game 2 of the series goes Wednesday in a 7:05 p.m. start at Funko Field. Devereaux Harrison gets the start for Vancouver. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com with Tyler Zickel calling the play-by-play. It can also be seen on MiLB.TV. for free.
C-Changes
The Canadians will be without reliever Sam Ryan for the rest of the season as he was placed on the seven-day injured list prior to Tuesday’s Game 1. Outfielder Angel Del Rosario was activated to take Ryan’s place on the 30-man roster and Ryan’s uniform number of 31. Ryan was a key member of the C’s bullpen in 2023 with a 5-0 record, a 2.76 earned run average and a 1.20 WHIP in 49 innings.
Steve Ewen of The Province has confirmed that the 2023 season for infielder Alex De Jesús is over as he is on the injured list with an upper-body injury. He finished the year with 11 home runs and 59 runs batted in to go along with a .248 batting average.
C-Tweets
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