C's Stay Hot, Win On Canada Day

VANCOUVER, BC – Five strong innings from #11 Blue Jays prospect Dahian Santos and two homers from #8 prospect Cade Doughty helped the Canadians beat the Spokane Indians [Rockies] 11-2 on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd, their first win on Canada Day since 2016.

Spokane scored an unearned run in the top of the first – the third consecutive game they took an early lead – but the C’s answered right back in the home half. A one-out walk from Michael Turconi and a double by Alex De Jesus put runners at second and third before a wild pitch tied the score. After a strikeout, Gabby Martinez legged out an RBI infield single to put Vancouver in front 2-1.

Santos (W, 3-3) baffled the Indians for the rest of his outing. The 20-year-old scattered four singles, did not allow an earned run or a walk, hit a batter and K’ed five to set the tone. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last nine innings of work.

An Alan Roden RBI double in the second proved to be the eventual winning run, but the Canadians didn’t settle for a 3-1 lead. They plated two in the third on a two-out single by Estiven Machado then Doughty went deep for the first time in the sixth, a three-run blast that made it 8-1.

The Indians put another tally on the board in the top of the seventh, but the C’s continued their week-long trend of answering Spokane scores when Roden’s third hit of the day drove in the ninth run of the afternoon. Doughty delivered again in the eighth with a two-run shot and the Canadians went on to win 11-2.

Doughty’s two-homer performance was his first in High-A and second as a pro; he has driven in 40 runs in 58 games this year. Roden had three hits to raise his average to a team-best .307 and Turconi worked four walks to match a C’s single-game season high.

With the win, Vancouver is now a season-best 15 games over .500 at 44-29 and have matched a season-long winning streak at five straight. The Canadians will go for a series sweep over Spokane tomorrow as part of an A&W Family Fun Sunday; Devereaux Harrison climbs the slope when things get going at 1:05 p.m. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, the MiLB First Pitch app, Bally Live and the Sportsnet Radio Network.