Cardiac Canadians Do It Again To Win 8-7

VANCOUVER, BC – Down to their last four outs, the Canadians scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to stun the Tri-City Dust Devils [Angels] 8-7 in front of a rollicking sellout crowd at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium Saturday night.

Trailing 7-5 thanks to five unanswered Tri-City runs between the fifth and the sixth, the C’s got their rally started with a lead-off single from Ryan McCarty to start the penultimate stanza. Consecutive strikeouts followed, but Devonte Brown worked a crucial two out walk before Dasan Brown laced an RBI single to centerfield to cut the deficit to one. After a pitching change, Cade Doughty smacked a single into right field to score Devonte from second on a bang-bang play at the plate to tie the game at seven and put two runners in scoring position after the throw home got by the catcher.

The Dust Devils elected to intentionally walk Peyton Williams, which brought Josh Kasevich to the plate with the bases loaded. He was promptly hit by a pitch to force home the go-ahead run and put the C’s up 8-7. Justin Kelly (S, 5) retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the win.

It was a back-and-forth game from the start. Tri-City scored single runs in the first and second to grab an early lead, but the Canadians punched back with a run in the second on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Jeff Wehler then took the lead with two runs in the third thanks to a run-scoring hit from Kasevich and a bases loaded walk worked by McCarty.

The C’s added two more runs to their line on Cade Doughty’s team-best 14^th homer of the year in the fourth before the Dust Devils did their damage in the middle innings.

Rafael Sanchez got the start and went five innings, allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Ryan Boyer, Sam Ryan (W, 4-0) and Kelly combined on the final 3.2 innings and kept the Angels affiliate off the scoreboard.

All eight of Vancouver’s runs scored with two outs, thanks in part to the Canadians going 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position. All nine starters reached base, eight had a hit and two – McCarty and Doughty – had multiple knocks.

With the win, the C’s are now 67-39 and own the third-best record in Minor League Baseball. Their 38-14 record at home is the best in all of baseball.

Vancouver will aim for a six-game series sweep Sunday afternoon. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. and coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, Bally Live, the MiLB First Pitch app and the Sportsnet Radio Network.