Back-And-Forth Battle Ends With C's Loss

VANCOUVER, BC – The Canadians dropped the lid lifter of their six-game homestand opposite the Tri-City Dust Devils [Angels] 6-5 Wednesday night at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.

After falling behind 3-0 through four and a half, the C’s spoiled the shutout in the bottom of the fifth. Glenn Santiago led off with a single and Dasan Brown cracked a two-out, two-run homer to make it 3-2 Dust Devils.

Vancouver rallied for the lead in the sixth. Jackson Hornung worked an eight-pitch walk with two outs, Jeff Wehler followed with a free pass of his own then Santiago lofted a soft single to left to tie the game. Up stepped Dylan Rock, who ripped a fly ball to deep center that was initially misplayed by the centerfielder and turned into a two-run double that put the Canadians in front 5-3.

The lead didn’t last long. Tri-City plated a pair in the seventh thanks to a lead-off walk, a double and a single to even the score then brought home the eventual game-winning run in the eighth without a hit. They used a walk, a two-base sac bunt and a wild pitch to get in front 6-5 then held on to get the last six outs and hand the C’s the loss.

Brown and Santiago paced the offense with two hits apiece while the former reached four times thanks to two walks. Anders Tolhurst tossed a 1-2-3 ninth as the only Vancouver pitcher to not allow a run; he has now retired nine consecutive batters over his last two outings.

The Canadians will aim to even the series tomorrow night. Mississauga, ON native Connor O’Halloran makes his High-A debut opposite #11 Angels prospect Ryan Costeiu. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. across the C’s Broadcast Network.