Bats Quiet In Brief Battle With Frogs

EVERETT, WA – In the baseball business, shorter games have become priority number one. On Friday night in Everett, the Canadians would have loved a little extra time to get their offense going in a 4-1 loss to the AquaSox (Mariners) at Funko Field.

In what proved to be their shortest game on the young season – an almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it two hours and two minutes – Vancouver matched their season low in hits (three) and lost consecutive games for the first time. They trailed from wire-to-wire; the Frogs scored a run in the first without recording a hit and added a two-run shot from top Mariners prospect Harry Ford in the third before the C’s finally found the scoreboard in the fifth. In that inning, a throwing error put Riley Tirotta on base to start the frame and he promptly stole second. After advancing to third on a Karl Ellison single, #24 Blue Jays prospect Estiven Machado brought Tirotta home with an RBI ground out that made it 3-1 AquaSox.

The ‘Sox answered with a fifth inning run of their own off Canadians starter Trenton Wallace (L, 1-1) in the home half, but Wallace – who went five scoreless in his season debut last week – still found a way to get through five complete and avoid an early entry from the bullpen. He scattered five hits, walked one and K’ed three.

Sam Ryan, Devereaux Harrison and Connor Cooke each logged one perfect inning of relief but the Frogs kept Vancouver’s offense at bay by not allowing a hit in the final four innings. It was the second game in a row where the C’s failed to record a hit between the sixth and the ninth.

Tirotta and #13 Blue Jays prospect Josh Kasevich doubled and singled, respectively, to provide the only other two knocks of the night.

With the loss, the Canadian are in danger of losing their first series of the season. They will need to win the next two games to secure a split, beginning with Saturday’s game in which #11 Blue Jays prospect Dahian Santos will try and exorcise the Funko Field demons that haunted him in his High-A debut last year (he allowed six earned runs on three hits and four walks to get bounced from the game in the first inning on August 20). He’ll be opposed by southpaw Reid VanScoter, who will climb the slope for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, the MiLB app and the Sportsnet Radio Network.