The Vancouver Canadians lost 5-4 to the Tri-City Dust Devils at Nat Bailey Stadium on Wednesday.
The Canadians got back-to-back one-out doubles to center from Jackson Hornung and Peyton Williams off Dust Devils starter Chris Clark to grab a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Williams got to third on a Jace Bohrofen ground out before Nick Goodwin flew out to left.
The Dust Devils surged ahead in the third against C’s starter Juaron Watts-Brown in the third. Caleb Ketchup walked, stole second and proceeded to third on a throwing error by Jacob Sharp behind the plate. Arol Vera walked and Mac McCroskey reached on an infield single to third that was knocked down by Cutter Coffey but he could not reach the bag for a force play in time. Joe Redfield hit into a 5-2 fielder’s choice but Adrian Placencia walked to score Vera with the tying run. Werner Blakely struck out but a Sonny DiChiara walk plated McCroskey with the go-ahead run before a two-run single to center by Juan Flores scored Redfield and Placencia to put Tri-CIty up 4-1.
The C’s got one run back in the bottom of the third. Williams walked with two outs, Bohrofen was hit by a pitch and Goodwin singled to right to bring home Williams. A wild pitch and a Coffey walk brought Sharp to the plate with the bases loaded but Clark struck him out.
The Dusty Ones went up by three runs again in the fourth when Vera belted a one-out solo homer to right-center off Watts-Brown to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
Vancouver matched that run a half-inning later. Victor Arias drew a leadoff walk and got to third when Dasan Brown hit a ball of the third base bag and got to second with a double. Hornung walked to load the bases and a Williams ground ball to third scored Arias. With Brown at third and Hornung at second, Bohrofen flew out to center to end the inning.
The C’s got closer in the seventh against lefty Dylan Phillips. A leadoff double to left field by Williams was cashed in by a Coffey two-out single to right.
Roman Phansalkar relieved Phillips and stranded a Coffey steal of second by fanning Sharp.
Vancouver got the tying run on in the eighth and ninth innings. Arias led off with a double in the eighth against Phansalkar but he was left 180 feet away from home. Phansalker struck out Wehler and gave the ball to Luke Murphy who fanned Brown and retired Hornung on a pop-up to second.
Goodwin singled to right with two outs against Murphy in the ninth but Coffey grounded out to short to end the game.
C-Notes
Watts-Brown had a three-up, three-down inning in the first and second. Arias made a leaping grab near the center field wall to rob Placencia of a hit for the second out. A called strikeout of Blakely ended the first.
A strikeout of DiChiara began the second inning and a Ketchup whiff started the fourth for Watts-Brown. The righthander overcame a Placencia leadoff walk in the fifth to retire the last six men he faced, including a called strikeout of Kevin Bruggeman to begin the sixth.
Grayson Thurman took over on the hill in Vancouver and recorded a strikeout of McCroskey to begin the frame. A two-out walk by Placencia and an infield knock to second by Blakely were stranded when DiChiara popped out to second.
Kai Peterson and Aaron Munson locked it down with perfect frames to keep the C’s within striking distance. Peterson struck out Flores to open the eighth and Munson struck out McCroskey swinging and Redfield looking to close out the ninth.
Coffey was plunked on the first pitch he faced on Canadian soil by Clark to start the bottom of the second. Sharp then got aboard when McCroskey booted a ball at second. The rally was neutered when Arias hit into a 4-6-3 double play and ended when Wehler pop-up to second to strand Coffey at third.
Wehler singled to left off Christian Young with one out in the sixth and moved to second on a Brown walk. Young fanned Hornung before being relieved by Dylan Phillips. Wehler was picked off at second as Flores started a 2-6 putout to finish the inning.
Connor O’Halloran gets the start for Vancouver on Thursday in a 7:05 p.m. first pitch at Nat Bailey Stadium. The game is on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV.
C-Changes
The metamorphoses of the Vancouver Canadians roster continues.
Righthanded relievers Conor Larkin and Johnathan Lavallee are moving on to Double-A New Hampshire. Larkin has been with the C’s since the latter half of the 2022 season. The former Penn State pitcher was 2-0 with a 2.57 earned run average over 28 innings. He collected three saves and three holds, striking out 37 batters while walking 17. My favourite memory of the Irishman was nailing down the save in a 1-0 victory in Game 3 of last year’s Northwest League final against Everett.
Lavallee was 3-3 with a 3.55 ERA over 38 innings and recorded five holds and three saves. He rang up 54 batters and walked 16. Lavallee was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays before the year began after beginning his pro career with the Minnesota Twins organization. All the best to Conor and Johnathan with New Hampshire FC.
Righthanders Bo Bonds and Irv Carter have been called up from Low-A Dunedin. Bonds was a 13th-round pick by Toronto in 2022 out of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound from Gainesville, Florida went 1-1 with a 4.28 ERA with a 43-14 K/BB total in 27-1/3 innings with the D-Jays. He saved five games and held two others. Bonds was injured for most of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He did not make his pro debut until early August with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and pitched just 3-1/3 innings over three appearances with the FCL and D-Jays. Bonds will wear the same number matching his age, which is 25.
Carter was Toronto’s fifth-round selection in 2021 out of Cavalry Christian High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Born in Freehold, New Jersey, the 21-year-old Carter is showing the promise that made him a high draft pick three years ago. This season with Dunedin, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound hurler won six of seven decisions with a 3.18 ERA. His strikeout/walk total is 58-31 over 56-2/3 innings. He also had five holds and a save. Carter will be wearing number 28.
The Canadians also have catcher Alex Stone, a former Duke Blue Devil. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound backstop from Morristown, New Jersey signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent on July 23. The 22-year-old Stone will wear number 27 and is on the C’s Development List for the time being.
Radar Gun Rundown
Juaron Watts-Brown was at 72-94 miles per hour with strikeouts at 83, 85, 82, 82 and 83. Grayson Thurman was at 81-89 with a K at 82. Kai Peterson was at 87 and had a strikeout at 95. Aaron Munson had strikeouts at 85 and 89 and was up to 93.
C-Tweets
Discover more from C's Plus Baseball | A Vancouver Canadians Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
C's Plus Baseball | A Vancouver Canadians Blog 