C's Let Canada Day Thriller Slip Away; Fall 6-3 to Hops
July 2, 2019 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Vancouver Canadians News Release
Pre-game with the Vancouver Canadians
(Vancouver Canadians)
(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - "What's happening?" yells a fan from the seats behind home plate shortly after Hillsboro scored a fourth run in the top of the 9th inning on Monday in Vancouver. It was Canada Day (July 1) and the C's took a 3-2 lead to the final frame only to watch the fireworks start early with Hillsboro plating four runs to stun the sold-out crowd of 6,413 as the Hops topped Vancouver 6-3.
Before the game had even started fans were in a loud and festive mood which set the stage for what Vancouver hoped would be a third straight victory after starting the season 3-12 (.200). Hillsboro came into the game with the best record in the Northwest League at 11-6 and had won three straight against the C's to wrap-up a four game series down in Hillsboro (June 21-24).
RHP Nick Frase made his third start of the season for the Canadians coming off a rough inning of work back on June 25th in Everett, and had a tough time finding the strike zone consistently despite not allowing a hit over his 2 1/3 innings of work. On Monday, Fraze's final pitch struck out Hillsboro's LF Jesus Marriaga before C's manager Casey Candaele went to his bullpen to bring in RHP Alex Nolan.
The right-hander from Ontario ensure the walk that Fraze issued to lead off the top of the 3rd inning (2B Nick Grande) didn't score before Nolan himself ran into trouble in the top of the 4th.
Four straight Hops managed base hits off Nolan with 3B David Garza Jr.'s single scoring RF Tristan English to open up the scoring. A sacrifice fly from LF Jesus Marriaga cashed in DH Daniel Wasinger (single) to extend the lead to 2-0.
Vancouver's offense put little together against Hillsboro starter RHP Marcos Tineo who went five scoreless innings allowing just three hits and a lone walk. However, once the Hops pulled RHP Jacob Stevens out from the bullpen, the Canadians fortunes changed almost immediately. 3B Luis De Los Santos smacked a double off Stevens who then allowed a second straight double to RF Will Robertson that got the Canadians on the board. 1B Trevor Schwecke singled putting runners at first and third base - but the Hops infield stayed back and it paid off as Hillsboro traded the game tying run for a 6-4-3 double play that lessened the blow from Vancouver's offensive surge.
Listen to Will Robertson's double that puts Vancouver on the board
With two outs in the bottom of the 6th inning, Stevens and the Hops fresh off the double play, the right-hander left a pitch out over the plate and Canadians DH Ryan Sloniger slammed it over the right-field wall for his 1st professional home run - also giving Vancouver a 3-2 lead.
Listen to Ryan Sloniger's 1st Professional Home Run on Sportsnet 650 AM with Rob Fai
That one-run lead would hold until the top of the 9th inning for the Canadians and called upon RHP Andy McGuire to come in and secure Vancouver's third straight victory after starting the season 3-12 (.200). The native of Rabat, Morocco immediately ran into trouble allowing a leadoff single to Hops 1B Andy Yerzy before hitting both CF Kristian Robinson and RF Tristan English to load the bases with no one out. DH Daniel Wasinger was next up and smoked a two-run single that gave Hillsboro a 4-3 lead, with 3B David Garza Jr. grabbing an RBI on a double that scored English as part of a four-run inning that was more than the Canadians could come back from. 6-3 Hillsboro was the final.
Notes: The game featured eight (8) errors on Monday night with the Hops committing five (5) of them... Hillsboro left 15 runners on-base while the Canadians left five (5)... Vancouver last won a Canada Day game on July 1st, 2016 and are 1-4 (.200) in the past five July 1st games, all at home... Canadians 2B Ronny Brito was 1-for-3 (.333) on Monday but managed to strikeout as well giving him 28 through his first 15 games.
With the loss, Vancouver falls to 5-13 (.278) through the first 18 games of the season while Hillsboro (12-6) maintain a one-game lead on Salem-Keizer in the South Division with 20 games remaining in the first half. Vancouver remains five games back after Spokane lost and Tri-City won.
Vancouver looks to snap a four-game losing streak vs. Hillsboro on Tuesday, June 2nd at 7:05pm with RHP Adam Kloffenstein getting the ball for the C's. The game can be heard live on Sportsnet 650 starting at 7:00pm.
Tickets to both Tuesday's game and Wednesday (1:05pm) are available by calling 604.872.5232, online at www.canadiansbaseball.com or by visiting the Nat Bailey Stadium Box Office at 4601 Ontario Street, Vancouver, B.C.
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 Pre-game with the Vancouver Canadians |
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