Sanchez Shines, Leads C's To Win

PASCO, WA – Canadians starter Rafael Sanchez (W, 3-1) had his best game as a pro on Sunday night, striking out 12 Tri-City Dust Devils [LAA] through seven scoreless innings to help the C’s take the series finale at Gesa Stadium 1-0.

The Cuban right-hander was magnificent. He used 88 pitches – 57 of which were strikes – over 24 batters faced to keep Tri-City at bay while stranding the tying run at third in both the first and the sixth. Especially impressive was his effort in his second-to-last stanza, when he protected Vancouver’s slim lead by spoiling Werner Blakely’s lead-off triple with consecutive Ks and an inning-ending fly out.

Tri-City starter Ryan Costeiu was up to the task of dueling with Sanchez. He allowed just one walk and one hit with eight strikeouts through five innings, but the Canadians were able to capitalize on a first inning broken bat RBI single from Peyton Williams to score the game’s only run.

Conor Larkin (H, 2) relieved Sanchez with a one-two-three eighth inning that included two strikeouts. Grayson Thurman (S, 2) retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth before allowing a runner to reach with two outs after a strikeout/wild pitch. The threat was quickly thwarted; the Altavista, VA native struck out the next batter he faced to end the game.

The pitcher’s duel ended in a brisk two hours and five minutes for Vancouver’s second-fastest nine inning game of the season. With the victory, the C’s end up taking six of seven games from the Angels affiliate to start the second half 3-0. They’ll return home tied for first place with the Spokane Indians.

RE/MAX Canadians Baseball continues next week as the C’s host the Hillsboro Hops [ARI] starting Tuesday at The Nat. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. across the Canadians Broadcast Network: Bally Live and Sportsnet 650. Tickets are available at CanadiansBaseball.com.