The Spokane Indians completed a three-game sweep of the Vancouver Canadians with a 7-6 win at Avista Stadium on Sunday.
Spokane put up a three-spot in the top of the third against C’s starter Pat Gallagher. A leadoff walk by Cole Carrigg, two stolen bases and a Dyan Jorge free pass were cashed in by a Kyle Karros double to right-center. Robby Martin Jr. grounded a single up the middle to plate Karros for the third run. A Bryan Betancourt walk chased Gallagher from the game. Kevin Miranda had to enter the game and got the three outs Vancouver needed, including a 6-4-3 double play from Jesus Bugarin.
The C’s rallied to tie the game in the third. Jean Arnaez doubled to center in his first Northwest League at-bat with one out. A base hit to left by Dasasn Brown and another to center by Ryan McCarty brought Arnaez in to score. Nick Goodwin drew a two-out walk to load the bases and a wild pitch by Spokane starter Victor Juarez allowed both Brown and McCarty to cross the plate thanks to the spacious foul territory at Avista Stadium.
Spokane took the lead again with a two-out rally in the seventh against C’s reliever Chay Yeager. Jesus Ordoñez doubled to center and Parker Kelly singled him home with the go-ahead run. A Jean Perez infield knock to short put two men on for Carrigg and he deposited the ball over the left field fence for a three-run homer.
The C’s got a run back in the top of the eighth against Braxton Hyde when Rock singled to left and went to second on a Hornung walk. An Estiven Machado 1-6-3 double play ball pushed Rock to third and he came home on a Jaden Rudd single up the gut.
Vancouver’s last gap in the top of the ninth began with a one-out single to short by McCarty off righthander Luis Amoroso. A walk by Jace Bohrofen and a Goodwin hot smash back to the mound loaded up the baes. Tyler Ahearn was called in to take over for Amoroso who tossed his glove off and fell off the mound after appearing to be struck on his right elbow. A Rock 5-4 fielder’s choice and a throwing error by Perez at second resulted in McCarty and Bohrofen coming in to score respectively ybut a Hornung grounder to third ended the game.
C-Notes
Goodwin got Vancouver’s first hit with a leadoff double to right in the second but he was nailed trying to steal third base for the second out of the inning. A Jackson Hornung walk followed but he was left stranded.
An Arnaez double to begin the fifth was also wasted as he never got to third let alone home plate as Anderson Bido got the final two outs of the frame in relief of Juarez.
A one-out rally in the top of the sixth arose when Rock walked and Hornung lined a base hit to center off Brayan Castillo. Hornung got to second when Estiven Machado grounded out to second with Castillo covering the bag. The inning ended when Rock got picked off at third by catcher Ordoñez.
In the seventh, Rudd reached on an infield single to short to lead things off against Felix Ramires. McCarty singled to center and Bohrofen took one for the team with two outs but Goodwin struck out swinging.
Miranda worked around a Parker Kelly leadoff single to center with a 5-4-3 double play ball from Jean Perez. The C’s righthander then got out of a second-and-third jam with one out in the bottom of the third when Karros singled to left and Martin doubled to center but Betancourt fouled out to third and Bugarin grounded to short. In the fourth, a Kelly walk and stolen base was left at second base as Miranda struck out Perez as part of four shutout innings of relief.
Yeager gave up two hits in the top of the fifth but kept Spokane off the board when he picked off Jorge at first after a leadoff single to right. A Karros infield single to short was taken care with a 6-4-3 double play by Martin.
Grayson Thurman pitched 1-1/3 shutout innings of relief with two strikeouts. He struck out Jorge looking to end the sixth and Bugarin swinging to end the seventh, stranding a Karros leadoff double to left.
Josh Mollerus gave up a single to left by Kelly and a knock to right by Ordoñez to open the bottom of the eighth but the former Oregon Duck hurler rebounded to retire the next three hitters in order with Hornung hauling in a foul pop by Perez to swing the momentum of the frame.
The Canadians are 0-3 and have lost with three different uniforms. They wore their blue retro jerseys for the time on Sunday after losing with their red uniforms on Friday and black ones on Saturday. The team may want to try the grey unis but they were only worn once last season. Though the team won that game in Everett back on April 19, the word is the grey uniforms are a little heavier to wear than the home whites, reds, blacks and retro blues. It’s a shame because the red really pops on the road greys.
The Canadians will likely wear their home whites for their 2024 Home Opener on Tuesday against the Hillsboro Hops. Chris McElvain—who started the preseason game against UBC last week in the white jersey—will get the honour of throwing the first pitch for the C’s at 7:05 p.m. The remaining five games at Nat Bailey Stadium will have 7:05 p.m. start times on Wednesday and Thursday and 1:05 p.m. first pitches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Lefty Kendry Rojas—who pitched in relief on Saturday—is slated to start Wednesday for Monty’s Mounties.
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