The Vancouver Canadians defeated the Spokane Indians 6-1 at Avista Stadium on Friday.
Both teams threatened to score in the first inning but came away empty. Devonte Brown had the first hit of the game for Vancouver with a single to left field with one out. A wild pitch put him at second but Spokane starter Connor Van Scoyoc would strand Brown at third base.
Vancouver starter Kevin Miranda got into a one-out bases-loaded jam when Ryan Ritter singled to right field and Sterlin Thompson walked to start things off. The righthander then took a line drive off his pitching hand courtesy of Zach Kokoska. Miranda did find his way out of trouble when Nic Kent flew out to right and Garrett Spain cut down Sterlin Thompson at third for a 9-5 inning-ending double play.
After a Josh Kasevich one-out walk in the top of the second inning went nowhere, Spokane would score the first run of the game in the bottom half. It looked like Miranda would put up another zero when a Juan Guerrero leadoff walk was doubled off after Ben Sems lined out to first. A single to center by Ronaiker Palma and a single to right by Braiden Ward put runners at the corners. Palma would score when Jommer Hernández tried to throw out Ward trying to steal second but the throw was off-target. The ball found its way to Gabby Martinez in left field and he wound up throwing out Ward trying to score for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the fourth, Cade Doughty was drilled in the back with two outs and Estiven Machado doubled to right but Van Scoyoc got Hernández to fly out to right. Spokane tried to get something cooking with two away in the home half of the inning when Sems doubled to right and got to third on a wild pitch. Palma was then hit by a pitch and Spokane attempted a double steal but Hernández’s throw to second was quickly returned by Machado, cutting Sems down at the plate on a 2-6-2 play to keep the game tied.
The C’s would tie the game up in the top of the third when Michael Turconi lined a single to right with one out. A Devonte Brown walk, an Alex De Jesús fly out to center and a Van Scoyoc balk moved Turconi around the bases for the tying run.
Sam Ryan entered the game from the Vancouver bullpen for the bottom of the third and stranded a leadoff double to right by Montgomery by striking out Ritter and Thompson.
The Canadians would take the lead in the top of the fifth. A De Jesús 4-6 fielder’s choice forced a Turconi leadoff walk out at second but Spain delivered a double to left to score De Jesús before scoring on a triple to left by Martinez to make it 3-1 Vancouver. The C’s maintained that lead in the bottom of the fifth after Ryan worked around a Ward leadoff single and a Ritter one-out knock to left. A big assist came from Brown who made a diving catch in center to rob Kokoska of a potential game-tying two-run double.
There was just one baserunner in the sixth inning, a Hernández two-out walk in the top of the frame. Ryan was relieved by Ryan Boyer who struck out Kent to begin a scoreless bottom of the stanza.
Rehabbing major league reliever Tyler Kinley replaced Van Scoyoc in the top of the seventh and he endured a rocky beginning as he surrendered a leadoff home run to center field by Brown, his 10th of the year. Boyer worked his second perfect frame of the night to send the game to the eighth.
Doughty was plunked in the back again, this time by new Spokane reliever Cullen Kafka but that was the only time anyone reached base safely in the eighth inning as Vancouver brought in Conor Larkin. The Irishman ended a three-up, three-down inning by striking out Kokoska.
The C’s would pad their 4-1 lead in the ninth by chasing Kafka game courtesy of three straight hits to open the frame. Hernández singled to center, Turconi doubled to right and Brown had a base hit to left to score Hernández. Mason Green relieved Kafka but was unable to strand Turconi as De Jesús lifted a sac fly to center to bring in Turconi for the C’s seventh run.
Guerrero singled to center with one out in the bottom of the ninth but Matt Svanson took care of business to ensure a series split. Ryan got the win to up his record to 2-0.
C-Notes
The Canadians are 21 games to the good with an overall record of 54 wins and 33 losses and are 10 games above .500 with a 16-6 mark in the second half. The first-half champion C’s hold a three-game lead over Everett for the top spot in the second-half standings. Spokane is now six games back and Eugene, Tri-City and Hillsboro are seven back.
2019 Vancouver Canadians righty Winder Garcia has begun a rehab assignment with the Florida Complex League Blue jays according to the transactions page at CanadiansBaseball.com. The Caracas, Venezuela native missed the entire 2022 season due to injury. He joined the C’s as a 17-year-old for the team’s final regular season game in Everett in 2019 and held the AquaSox to a solo home run over five innings in a no-decision. Garcia was called up to replace Alek Manoah who was shut down after the Toronto Blue Jays brass deemed he threw enough innings for the season.
The C’s go after a series victory against Spokane in a 7:05 p.m. start at Avista Stadium. Tyler Zickel will have the broadcast on CanadiansBaseball.com. Michael Dominguez is listed as the probable starter for Vancouver.
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