Eighth Inning Rally Leads C's To Victory
VANCOUVER, BC – For the first seven innings of Friday’s Fortis BC ‘Nooner at The Nat, the Canadians spun their wheels on offense and found themselves behind the visiting Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 4-0. That all changed in a torrid bottom of the eighth that saw the C’s surge in
VANCOUVER, BC – For the first seven innings of Friday’s Fortis BC ‘Nooner at The Nat, the Canadians spun their wheels on offense and found themselves behind the visiting Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 4-0. That all changed in a torrid bottom of the eighth that saw the C’s surge in front with five runs on six hits to snatch a 5-4 win from their Northwest League foe on a sun-splashed afternoon on Ontario Street.
The Dust Devils broke a scoreless tie with a run in the fifth off starter Abdiel Mendoza, who was otherwise excellent over five strong innings in which he scattered three hits, allowed that lone run and struck out four. Tri-City struck for two in the sixth and added another in the eighth; they seemed destined to even the series at two wins apiece.
That all changed in the home half of the penultimate inning. Michael Turconi got the offense going with a single and Dasan Brown notched his second hit of the day to put two men aboard with no outs. Up stepped pinch hitter Alex De Jesus, who laced a double over the third base bag and into the left field corner to plate a pair and cut the deficit in two.
Alan Roden followed with an RBI single to center then advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a pop out, #13 Blue Jays prospect Josh Kasevich looped a single to right field that would have only advanced Roden to third, but a misplay by the right fielder allowed the tying run to score and put Kasevich on second base as the potential go-ahead run.
A pitching change followed, and Devonte Brown – who hit a grand slam as part of a five RBI game on Thursday – greeted the newly-inserted reliever by tagging the first pitch deep into the left centerfield gap for a go-ahead triple that made it 5-4.
Justin Kelly (S, 1) came on for the ninth and retired the first two batters before Tri-City put the tying run on board with a single. The next batter rolled a ground ball to the third base side that required a running throw from third baseman Cade Doughty that wasn’t dug out on the receiving end and moved the tying run into scoring position, but Kelly responded by inducing a game-ending pop out to lock down the win.
Eight of nine starters reached base and seven had a hit. Brown and Doughty paced the offense with two knocks apiece, the latter of whom had a pair of doubles.
A win on Saturday afternoon would secure Vancouver’s first series victory of the year. #11 Blue Jays prospect Dahian Santos makes his season debut opposite Tri-City’s Bryce Osmond. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and coverage is available on Bally Live, MiLB TV and the Sportsnet Radio Network.