The Vancouver Canadians fell to the Spokane Indians 4-3 in Game 1 of the Northwest League Championship Series at Nat Bailey Stadium on Tuesday.
The Canadians grabbed a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning off Spokane starter Jack Mahoney with all balls put in play going to right field. Jay Harry and Brennan Orf singled to put runners at the corners and Jacob Sharp produced a sacrifice fly to score Harry. Jace Bohrofen singled Orf to third before Adrian Pinto scored Orf with a base hit.
Spokane erased that deficit against Vancouver starter Ryan Watson in the top of the fifth. Andy Perez led off with a single to right field before GJ Hill put the ball over the fence in center field for a two-run home run to tie the game. Bryant Betancourt walked and was bunted over to second on a 1-3 play but Watson struck out a frustrated Cole Carrigg who slammed his bat in frustration before Dyan Jorge grounded out to short.
The Canadians retook the lead in the fifth inning when Harry homered to right off Mahoney with two outs.
Spokane would tie it again in the seventh. Watson got the first two men he faced including a strikeout of Hill but Bryant Betancourt belted a solo shot to right. José Cordova singled to center and stole second base before a Carrigg walk chased Watson from the game. Alex Amalfi stranded the runners by getting Jorge to pop out to first.
A one-out triple by Betancourt in the ninth off Amalfi came in to score when Cordova singled to center past a drawn-in infield to put Spokane ahead for the first time. EJ Andrews Jr.—pinch-running for Cordova—got to third on a double to right before Amalfi rallied to strike out Jorge and Kyle Karros.
Peyton Williams drew a leadoff walk in the ninth against Spokan reliever Sam Weatherly but pinch-runner Marcos De La Rosa and Je’Von Ward switched places at first and Ward did likewise with Jackson Hornung after two straight 4-6 fielder’s choices. Bryce Arnold pinch-ran for Hornung but was stranded when Harry struck out.
C-Notes
Watson started the game by getting Carrigg to fly out to center on the game’s first pitch. Pinto made a nice leaping grab of a Jorge liner to second for the second out. Karros had the first hit of the series with a single to center field before Watson struck out Jake Snider to finish the first inning.
The second inning was perfect for Watson which ended with a Hill strikeout. In the third inning, Cordova reached on an infield single to second and Carrigg singled to right with one out before Watson got a 6-4-3 double play ball to get out of that jam.
It was three-up, three-down for Watson in the fourth as he handled a bunt pop-up from Snider before striking out Charlie Condon for out number three. The perfect even-number inning trend continued in the sixth for Watson as he struck out Snider before Condon lined out to second.
In the eighth inning, Amalfi issued a one-out base on balls to Snider and Condon came within inches of an extra-base hit but his bid for a double down the right field line was foul. Amalfi would strike out Condon looking and after Snider stole second, Andy Perez went down swinging.
Bohrofen got a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first but was forced out on a 5-4 fielder’s choice by Pinto. Williams had the first postseason hit for the C’s with a single to left but Mahoney struck out Je’Von Ward and Hornung to end the inning.
Sharp had the C’s first extra-base hit with a two-out double to right-center field. Nick Goodwin was hit by a pitch in the left hand by Mahoney but the runners were stranded when Karros lunged over the Canadians third-base dugout to retire Bohrofen. Goodwin left the game and was replaced by Cutter Coffey at third base for the top of the third inning.
Ward had a two-out walk in the third inning against Mahoney and Bohrofen had a one-out free pass in the sixth against Bryson Hammer but they were left on base.
Bohrofen was robbed of a hit after a well-struck ground ball was ticketed for center field but the shortstop Jorge was positioned perfectly to start a 6-3 putout to help Carlos Torres complete a perfect frame.
If there was ever a time for Juaron Watts-Brown to win his first game at Nat Bailey Stadium, tonight would be a good night to do it. He gets the ball for a 7:05 pm start in Game 2 which marks the final home game of the year. for Monty’s Mounties. Tyler Zickel and Chris Georges will have the call on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV.
Radar Gun Rundown
Ryan Watson was at 77-95 miles per hour with strikeouts of 85, 84, 81, 94 and 86. Alex Amalfi was at 76-94 with strikeouts of 77, 80, 87 and 77.
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