The Vancouver Canadians completed a 7-2 road trip with four wins out of six over the Hillsboro Hops at Hillsboro Ballpark.
Vancouver and Hillsboro will square off two more times next month when the C’s host the Hops for a six-game series at Nat Bailey Stadium from August 5-10 before heading back to Hillsboro Ballpark from August 26-31.
Tuesday, July 8 – Hillsboro 7 Vancouver 1
2B – Carter Cunningham (6) | Peterson 1.2IP 0R 2K
Wednesday, July 9 – Vancouver 7 Hillsboro 6
2B – Micheletti (15), Cunningham (7), Arnold (1), Harry (3), 3B – Micheletti (1), SB – Harry (3) | Munson 2IP 0R 1K, Todd (W, 5-2) 1IP 2R, Rojas (SV, 3) 0.2IP 0R 1K 3IRS
Thursday, July 10 – Vancouver 6 Hillsboro 1
2B – Coffey 2 (19), SB – Coffey (6) | Perez 5IP 0R 5K, Carter (W, 4-1) 3IP 0R 1K
Friday, July 11 – Vancouver 4 Hillsboro 3
HR – Keys (10), Cunningham (9), 2B – Arias (15), Deschamps (2), Nimmala (18), SB – Nimmala (7) | Stephen (W, 6-1) 6IP 1R 5K, Simon (SV, 1) 3IP 2R 2K
Saturday, July 12 – Vancouver 10 Hillsboro 6
HR – Keys (11), 2B – Nimmala 2 (20), Cunningham (8), Deschamps (3) | Batista (W, 5-2) 1.1IP 3R 1K, Peterson (H, 1) 2IP 0R 2K, Rojas (H, 5) 1.1IP 0R 2K, Munson (SV, 2) 0.2IP 0R 1K 2IRS
Saturday, July 13 – Hillsboro 7 Vancouver 6
2B – Micheletti (16) | Stanifer 3IP 0R 2K, Bonds 1IP 0R 1K, Todd 2IP 0R 4K
C-Notes
Congratulations to 2024 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Kendry Rojas for winning the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week award. The Cuban southpaw spun five shutout innings of two-run ball and punched out 10 batters for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats against Somerset.
Tuesday
The C’s were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. The Hops scored four of their runs with two outs. Victor Arias singled and walked twice.
Wednesday
Yondrei Rojas saved this one for Vancouver by getting the final two outs. With the bases loaded, Rojas got Druw Jones to hit into a 3-2 fielder’s choice that cut down Kevin Sim at the plate with Carter Cunningham and Aaron Parker getting the assist and putout, respectively. Rojas then struck out Angel Ortiz to end the game. Jay Harry had three hits and Eddie Micheletti had a pair.
Thursday
Hops starter Daniel Eagen no-hit the Canadians for six innings and has put up 11 goose eggs against them this season. The good news for Vancouver was Fernando Perez matched Eagen zero for zero over the first five frames. The C’s got to the Hops bullpen over the final three frames to allow Vancouver to get the win. Cutter Coffey broke up the no-no with a double to highlight a three-hit night, three-RBI night that included another double.
Friday
Khal Stephen delivered his fifth quality start for Vancouver with six innings of one-run ball. Vancouver managed to win this one despite going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and leaving 10 men on base. The one was a big one as Carter Cunningham blasted a three-run homer in the sixth to put the C’s ahead for good. Johan Simón pitched three innings for the save in his Northwest League debut, giving up two runs (one earned). Simón was originally assigned number 20 but wore number 23 in his debut.
Saturday
Canadians reliever Yondrei Rojas was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Jackson Feltner in the ninth inning. The game was delayed for 20 minutes as he was carted off the field. Aaron Munson got the final two outs for the save. Sean Keys drove in five runs, four of them with a grand slam that put Monty’s Mounties in the lead for good.
Sunday
A converted touchdown by the Hops in the sixth inning was Vancouver’s undoing. The C’s had the bases loaded in the ninth and got two runs back but the tying run was left at third base. The Canadians also committed three errors.
C-Changes
Righthander Khal Stephen and outfielder Victor Arias are leaving Vancouver for Double-A New Hampshire. The 22-year-old Stephen ends his dominant tenure in the Northwest League with a 6-1 record, a 1.49 earned run average and a 49-10 strikeout/walk total in 48⅓ innings. The former Mississippi State hurler was named the NWL’s Pitcher of the Month for June.
The 21-year-old Arias moves on from YVR after ending last season with the club. In 77 games with the C’s, the Venezuelan batted. 297 with an OPS of .814 to go along with five home runs, five triples, 16 doubles, 40 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases.
Promoted from Low-A Dunedin to Vancouver are second baseman/outfielder Sam Shaw and catcher Edward Duran. The 20-year-old Shaw hails from Victoria, BC and was Toronto’s ninth-round pick out of Lambrick Secondary School in 2023. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound lefthanded hitter boasts a .377 OBP in 122 games over his three-year career and compiled an OPS of .801, 10 doubles, three triples and seven home runs. Shaw was also 9-for-9 in the stolen base department. He will wear number 9 for Monty’s Mounties and joins Quebec City, QC native Nic Deschamps and Grimsby, Ontario’s Bryce Arnold as the Canadian-born players on the roster.
Duran is a 21-year-old who hails from Caracas Venezuela. He signed with the Miami Marlins as a free agent on January 15, 2021. The Marlins would trade Duran to the Blue Jays on August 31, 2022. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound backstop has spent the past three seasons with the Dunedin Blue Jays, save for an introductory stint with the Florida Complex League Jays in 2023. In 66 games, the righthanded-hitting Duran piled up 21 extra-base hits with 11 doubles, five triples and five home runs. He also drove in 40 runs while composing a batting line of .296/.378/.439 with his .296 leading the Florida State League. Duran has been assigned number 20.
Also coming over from Dunedin is catcher Peyton Powell. The Waco, Texas native was a free-agent signing from the Texas Longhorns on July 22, 2024. The 24-year-old Powell is a 6-foot-1 190-pound lefthander hitter who had a .362 OBP in 53 games with Dunedin this season.
Reliever Bo Bonds made his return at Hillsboro on July 13 after being activated from the injured list. The righthander had not pitched since June 17.
In other transaction news around the Jays nest, outfielder Je’Von Ward (2024-2025) was activated from the seven-day injured list at Double-A New Hampshire on July 11.
Righthander Alek Manoah (2019) and shortstop Josh Kasevich (2023) began rehab assignments with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners sent lefty Tayler Saucedo back to Tacoma on July 14.
Righthander Paxton Schultz (2021) began a rehab assignment with the FCL Blue Jays on July 17.
Other transactions involving former C’s are below.
- The Texas Rangers signed righthander Dany Jiménez (2017) to a minor league contract and the Chicago White Sox sent infielder Vinny Capra (2018) to Triple-A Charlotte on July 8.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers traded outfielder Steward Berroa (2022) to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash on July 9.
- The Toronto Blue Jays traded outfielder Will Robertson (2019, 2021) to the Chicago White Sox for cash.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates sent lefthander Ryan Borucki (2014-2015) on a rehab assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, the Seattle Mariners recalled lefty Tayler Saucedo (2015) from Triple-A Tacoma on July 11 and the Chicago White Sox called up outfielder Will Robertson from Triple-A Charlotte.
- The St. Louis Cardinals sent righthander Matt Svanson (2022-2023) to Triple-A Memphis on July 12.
- The Texas Rangers have called up designated hitter Rowdy Tellez (2014) from Triple-A Round Rock on July 17.
C-View
Chris McElvain, Jackson Wentworth and Edinson Batista are listed as the probable starters against Spokane this weekend. Friday’s and Sunday’s games are at 1:05 pm, and Saturday’s game is set for 7:05 pm. The games are on CanadiansBaseball.com and BallySports.com with Tyler Zickel and Chris Georges on the call.
C-Tweets & C-IGs
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