Late Rally Comes Up Short For C's

VANCOUVER, BC – The Canadians had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday but couldn’t recapture the magic for their third walk-off of the week in an 8-6 loss to the Spokane Indians [Rockies] at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.

Trailing 8-6 after eight, Michael Turconi started the home half of the final frame with a double and Alex De Jesus was hit by a pitch to put the tying run aboard. A ground out moved the runners into scoring position but a pop out and a strikeout ended the game.

Spokane started the scoring with a run in the second, but the C’s tied it in the fourth. De Jesus reached on a throwing error by the third baseman before Cade Doughty doubled to the corner in left field to even the score.

A four-run top of the sixth put the Indians back in front, but all four runs were unearned after an error at second base prolonged the inning. That was starter Devereaux Harrison’s (L, 3-1) final stanza; he went five and two-thirds, allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits with four walks and six punch outs.

The Canadians answered back in the bottom of the sixth by plating three runs on two hits – including a two-RBI single by Garrett Spain – and had the bases loaded with one out down a run, but a double play doused the rally.

That proved to be the closest the C’s would get. The Indians used a walk, consecutive triples and a soft single to score three more runs in the seventh and lead 8-4 before a Spain single, an Estiven Machado three-bagger and a Lyle Lin RBI groundout in the eighth made the score 8-6.

Relievers Cooper Benson and Ryan Boyer put up zeroes in the later innings to keep Vancouver within striking distance.

Spain’s three hits led the offense and he was joined in a two-RBI effort by Estiven Machado. Dasan Brown doubled and singled as the only other C’s hitter with multiple knocks.

After an off day on Monday, the C’s return to Ron Tonkin Field on Tuesday for their second visit to Hillsboro this year. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, the MiLB First Pitch app and the Sportsnet Radio Network.