Monkey C's, Monkey Do: Vancouver Hosts Two 5-4 Wins

VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver sports fans were treated to a pair of late rallies and 5-4 wins Wednesday night thanks to a Canadians triumph over the Everett AquaSox [Mariners] at Rogers Field at The Nat just minutes after the Canucks clinched a Game 1 win over Edmonton at Rogers Arena in round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Unlike their on-ice counterparts, the C’s grabbed an early lead to control the narrative for the first two-thirds of the game. They opened the scoring in the second inning when an infield single allowed Brennan Orf to reach to start the stanza, a ground out moved him to second and Jommer Hernandez singled him home to make it 1-0.

Orf would once again start a rally in the fourth. The Wildwood, MO native collected his second professional triple before coming home on a Dylan Rock single a batter later. Rock would score soon after when Hernandez laced his second RBI single of the night to put the C’s up 3-0.

Geison Urbaez started on the mound for the Canadians. The righty pitched around a walk and hit batter in the first inning then cruised after that, walking just one and holding the Frogs hitless through five innings while racking up five Ks.

Grayson Thurman entered in the sixth and quickly shut down the AquaSox in a 1-2-3 stanza. His second inning didn’t go as smoothly; the right-hander surrendered a game-tying homer to Axel Sanchez that was set up by a one-out walk – the first Thurman issued in 12 relief innings this year – and a single from newly-inserted Bill Knight for the first Everett hit of the night. Despite giving up the lead, the right-hander bounced back to retire the next two hitters and keep the game tied 3-3.

The Canadians had a rally going in the bottom of the seventh after a one-out walk by Dasan Brown and a single from Ryan McCarty. Jace Bohrofen followed that up with what appeared to be an infield single, but a questionable call from the first base umpire ruled him out at first base. Nick Goodwin came up next and hit a hot smash down the third base line that looked ticketed for extra bases, but AquaSox third basemen Ben Williamson made a diving snag to end the inning and douse the rally.

Everett snatched their first lead of the night in the eighth. With Anders Tolhurst (W, 2-1) on the hill, Ben Rodden led off the inning with a triple that bounced out of the glove of a leaping Dasan Brown in centerfield. A sacrifice fly from Josh Hood followed to put the ‘Sox in front 4-3.

The C’s would respond in the bottom of the inning by taking advantage of control issues from AquaSox reliever Tyler Cleveland. The stanza started with a four-pitch walk to Jackson Hornung followed by a Brennan Orf hit by pitch and a Dylan Rock free pass. Estiven Machado tied the game with a sacrifice fly then Hernandez delivered the eventual game-winning tally with his third run-scoring knock of the night to make it 5-4 Vancouver.

Johnathan Lavallee (S, 1) got the last three outs in the ninth thanks in part to a strong throw from Hernandez to nab the would-be tying run at second in a stolen base attempt.

All nine starters made a contribution on offense and eight reached base at least once. Hernandez was joined in a multi-hit effort by Orf, who finished his night halfway to a cycle.

Ryan Jennings gets the nod in game three of the series on Thursday evening. He’ll be opposed by Frogs southpaw Brandyn Garcia. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. RE/MAX Canadians Baseball will be live across the C’s Broadcast Network: Sportsnet 650’s alternate feed and Bally Live (MiLB.TV). Tickets and more information for this week’s homestand are available at CanadiansBaseball.com.