Rios Blasts C's To Walk-Off Win

VANCOUVER, BC – Losers of three straight for the first time since the last week of May, the Canadians entered play Tuesday night looking for a route back into the win column. Kekai Rios made it happen in big way with a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 11^th to complete a come-from-behind, 8-7 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.

After the Dust Devils took a 7-6 lead with a walk and two singles in the top of the 11^th, Vancouver scored the tying run without a hit in the home half. During the first at-bat of the inning, Josh Kasevich – the placed runner at second – was awarded third on a balk then scored on a wild pitch to even things at seven. Rios came to the plate in the following at-bat and uncorked a game-winning big fly to left field that handed the C’s their league-best tenth walk-off win of the year.

It was a seesaw battle the entire way through. The Canadians struck first in the second inning when a two-out error prolonged the inning for a three-run home run off the bat of Peyton Williams, his third in High-A. Tri-City would tie it with three scores in the fifth then the C’s retook the lead in the sixth when a lead-off single from Michael Turconi later scored on a two-out, two-strike base hit by Josh Kasevich.

Tri-City took advantage of two Vancouver errors in the sixth to score three runs and lead 6-4, but the Canadians began their comeback in the bottom of the eighth when a two-out broken bat RBI single from Williams cut the deficit to one.

Down to their final two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Dasan Brown tied the game 6-6 with a 404-foot bomb for his sixth homer of the year to set up the drama in extra innings.

Vancouver and Tri-City continue their series Wednesday night at The Nat. #9 Blue Jays prospect Adam Macko will be opposed by lefty Sammy Natera Jr. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. and coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, Bally Live, the MiLB First Pitch app and the Sportsnet Radio Network.