The Vancouver Canadians evened the Northwest League Championship Series at one game apiece after a 4-3 victory in Game 2 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Wednesday.
Vancouver starter Juaron Watts-Brown got things rolling by striking out Cole Carrigg and Dyan Jorge but Kyle Karros put a damper on things by hitting a home run to center field. Karros could not keep his batting helmet on as he lost his pine tar-covered bucket somewhere near first base. He travelled the rest of the way without his helmet to complete his round-tripper. Watts-Brown would end the top of the first inning by striking out the side as he got Jake Snider to go down swinging.
The Canadians would knot things up in the bottom of the second. Jay Harry worked a leadoff walk against Spokane starter Connor Staine and stole second base with one out. Spokane catcher Bryant Betancourt‘s throw was on the money but shortstop Andy Perez could not hang onto the ball on the tag. That would be huge as Jacob Sharp came through with a two-out single to left field to score Harry with the tying run.
The next run came in the top of the sixth inning as Carrigg doubled to the right field wall and was moved to third on a Jorge roller to second that Adrian Pinto made a nice play on, ranging well to his left to complete the 4-3 putout. A Watts-Brown wild pitch allowed Carrigg to cross the plate to make it 2-1 Spokane. Karros doubled to left and a two-out walk to Charlie Condon spelled the end of the night for Watts-Brown. JJ Sánchez needed just two pitches to end the inning, throwing a called strike before getting Perez to grounding out to first with Peyton Williams making the unassisted putout.
The C’s took their first lead of the night in the bottom half of the sixth. Harry ignited the rally with a base hit to right that deflected off the glove of a diving José Cordova at first. Cutter Coffey flared a base hit to right got Harry over to third and that was it for Staine. Lefty Bryson Hammer took over on the bump for Spokane and Brennan Orf drilled a single to right drive in Harry and Coffey. However, there was controversy as Orf took a tumble rounding first base as MiLB.TV replays showed Cordova sticking out his left arm to slow Orf down. C’s manager Brent Lavallee came out to argue with first base umpire Jamal Allen but the end result was Orf being sent back to first base.
Orf would get to second on a wild pitch with one out and moved to third on a groundout to second by Jace Bohrofen. Braxton Hyde relieved Hammer and he walked Pinto—who got the base on balls despite trying to call a time out when the pitch was about to be thrown. Hammer would end the stanza anyways with a Williams fly out to left field.
The Canadians would get to Hyde in the seventh inning. A Je’Von Ward leadoff walk and a one-out Harry single to left field set up Coffey to drive in Ward with a base knock to left to boost the Vancouver lead to 4-2.
Spokane would get a run in the eighth against Geison Urbaez. A 6-4 fielder’s choice by Karros wiped out a Jorge leadoff walk. A Snider single to right got Karros to third and a Condon sacrifice fly to center got Karros home with the third Spokane run. Urbaez uncorked a wild pitch that got Snider into scoring position but a Perez pop-out to Coffey at third kept the lead intact.
Bo Bonds was brought in for the ninth for Monty’s Mounties and struck out GJ Hill looking to open the frame. Hill disagreed with the call and was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Dylan Hulsey. Betancourt popped out to Pinto at second base for the second out but Cordova kept the game going with a base hit to center. Pinch-runner EJ Andrews Jr. replaced Cordova but Bonds got the job done by getting Carrigg to pop out to second to earn the save.
C-Notes
Watts-Brown gave up a second straight two-out extra-base hit when Hill doubled to left in the second inning but Hill was left 180 feet away when Watts-Brown struck out Betancourt.
Inning three was a 1-2-3 inning for Watts-Brown which began with a swinging strikeout of Cordova and ended with a called strikeout of Jorge. Karros and Snider were strikeout victims of Watts-Brown in the fourth which ended with a sterling play by Harry at short who threw out Condon on a one-bounce throw to end the inning.
The fifth inning started with a strikeout of Perez before Watts-Brown gave up a single to right field by Hill. Sharp would throw out Hill trying to steal second for a 2-4 putout. Betancourt banged a double off the right field wall but Watts-Brown punched Cordova’s ticket on a foul tip to send Spokane away.
Betancourt made a bid for another wall-banger to right but Ward used his 6-foot-7 frame to make a leaping catch for the second out of the seventh.
Urbaez relieved Sánchez and plunked Cordova on the left elbow with a 97-mile-per hour heater with his first pitch. His second pitch wound up in the glove of Bohrofen from center off the bat of Carrigg to finish the frame.
The Canadians Game 1 woes with runners in scoring position continued in the bottom of the first inning. Bohrofen began the game with a leadoff walk and barreled over to third on a Pinto double to left-center field. Staine struck out Williams and Ward and got Jackson Hornung to fly out to center.
The third inning began with promise when Pinto singled over the head of Jorge for a single to center field and Williams flared a single to left. Pinto got to third when Ward hit into a 3-6 fielder’s choice and Ward stole second. However, they were stranded when Hornung struck out and Harry grounded out to short.
Vancouver loaded the bags with one away in the seventh on a Ward leadoff and two straight base hits to left by Harry and Coffey but Hyde got Orf to hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
In the fourth, Orf hit one to the warning track in right field. Sharp was grazed by a pitch to get on base with two outs but Bohrofen flew out to left. Pinto singled to left to begin the fifth but that was all the C’s would get.
The C’s were turned away in the eighth as Sharp’s bid for a hit was taken away on a sliding catch in center by Carrigg.
Game 3 of the Northwest League Championship Series goes tonight at Gonzaga University in Spokane. Lefthander Kendry Rojas keeps his turn in the C’s pitching rotation. Game time is 6:35 p.m. on CanadiansBaseball.com with Tyler Zickel and Chris Georges on the call.
Grant Rogers is the scheduled starter for Vancouver in Game 4 in a 6:35 p.m. start. Game 5, if necessary, is also a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
Radar Gun Rundown
Juaron Watts-Brown was at 81-95 miles per hour with strikeouts at 84, 86, 82, 85, 85, 85, 84, 83, 82 and 95. JJ Sánchez was at 80-82, Geison Urbaez was at 85-96 and Bo Bonds was at 74-93.
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