Canada Day Celebration Unspoiled By Loss
VANCOUVER, BC – A two-homer day from Zach Britton and a game that stayed close until the ninth gave a sellout Canada Day crowd plenty to cheer about despite a 9-4 loss for the Vancouver Canadians at the hands of the Spokane Indians (Rockies) Friday afternoon at Nat Bailey Stadium.
VANCOUVER, BC – A two-homer day from Zach Britton and a game that stayed close until the ninth gave a sellout Canada Day crowd plenty to cheer about despite a 9-4 loss for the Vancouver Canadians at the hands of the Spokane Indians (Rockies) Friday afternoon at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Spokane scored three runs on three hits in the top of the first, but top Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann (L, 2-1) settled down after that to log four scoreless innings without another hit and finished his five frames with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Canadians answered in the bottom of the first when two walks set the table for #6 Blue Jays prospect Leo Jimenez, who singled home a run to make it 3-1. Vancouver added another run on an Anthony Morales RBI ground out after Mack Mueller singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.
Britton’s first of two homers came in the bottom of the sixth with the C’s behind 4-2. The Batesville, IN native hit an 0-2 pitch over the wall in right to bring the Canadians within a run, but that would be the closest they would get.
Home runs from Zac Veen and Trevor Boone built the Indians’ advantage to three runs and, despite Britton’s second jack in the eighth to make it a three-run game, Spokane plated three runs on six hits in the ninth and went on to win 9-4.
Today was the second time this year Britton has homered twice in one game and he’s hit three big flies in less than 24 hours to give him seven on the season.
The series continues Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Southpaw Jimmy Robbins gets the ball for Vancouver against #15 Rockies prospect Joe Rock. Coverage can be found on CanadiansBaseball.com, MiLB.TV and Sportsnet 650.