Pinto's Slam Powers C's Victory
VANCOUVER, BC – Adrian Pinto’s go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the sixth was the difference in Saturday night’s 5-4 Canadians win over the Eugene Emeralds [SF], much to the delight of a sellout crowd at The Nat. With the C’s down 4-1 after the Emeralds
VANCOUVER, BC – Adrian Pinto’s go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the sixth was the difference in Saturday night’s 5-4 Canadians win over the Eugene Emeralds [SF], much to the delight of a sellout crowd at The Nat.
With the C’s down 4-1 after the Emeralds scored two in the fourth and two more in the top of the sixth, Brennan Orf started the rally with a crucial one-out walk in a plate appearance that started 0-2. Jay Harry followed with a single before Nic Deschamps battled to a full count then took ball four. A strikeout followed, which brought Pinto to the plate. The 5-7, 170-pound utility man cranked the first pitch from Tommy Kane (L, 1-1) into the Nutrl Zone for his first High-A homer and the second salami of the season for Vancouver to put the C’s in front 5-4.
The bullpen handled the rest. Bo Bonds (W, 2-0) faced one batter over the minimum in his 2.1 scoreless frames of relief that featured four Ks and Kai Peterson (S, 1) worked around a lead-off walk and a steal by striking out the side in the ninth to secure the win. Peterson’s final pitch was a 94 MPH fastball painted on the bottom of the zone to strike out Bryce Eldridge – MLB.com’s #68 prospect in all of baseball – looking.
Vancouver started the scoring with a run in the second. Harry walked, Deschamps singled and Marcos De La Rosa’s base hit put the Canadians up 1-0.
Starter Grant Rogers – the reigning Northwest League Pitcher of the Week – kept Eugene scoreless for the first three innings but went on to allow four runs on nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
Peyton Williams established a new team high for 2024 with a hit in his 11th straight game and Jace Bohrofen improved to 10-for-23 with 10 RBI in the series after his first inning single.
With the win, the C’s have secured their first series victory over the Emeralds this year. They will wake up tomorrow two games back of first place Spokane in the second half standings and five games ahead of Hillsboro for the second playoff spot in the circuit. The Canadians go to Spokane next week and will visit Hillsboro the final week of August.
Tomorrow afternoon will feature the final game of this two-week homestand. Carson Pierce goes for the C’s opposite Emeralds lefty Joe Whitman. Gates open for a White Spot Family Fun Sunday at 12:00 p.m. with first pitch set for 1:05 pm. Catch all the action of RE/MAX Canadians Baseball on the C’s Broadcast Network: Bally Live and Sportsnet 650.