Canadians and Emeralds should be terrific Canada Day series

(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, BC) - The Vancouver Canadians are set to open up a three-game Canada Day series vs. Eugene on Thursday, July 1st at 7:05pm. If the first meeting between these two teams is any indication of what is to come, tickets should be on your 'to-do' list.

The Canadians lost two of three to the Emeralds, but all three games were air tight with Vancouver winning the middle game of the series.

The C's offense will once again be tested by a solid Eugene pitching staff, with names like A.J. Kirby-Jones, Chris Affinito, Wade Kirkland and Jose Crisotomo leading the way in front of a sold out Scotiabank Field crowd.

Some Canadians players match up particularly well against the Ems including Crisotomo who is hitting just .236 (8-for-34) this season, but was .500 (4-for-8) vs. the Emeralds.

Chris Affinito has been hitting the ball well all season through his first 12 games (.368) and picked up the ball well off of Eugene Emerald pitching in the first three games of the season going 3-for-7 (.429).

The only pitcher in the rotation expected to make a second start vs. Eugene is RHP Deyvi Jimenez who loss the season opener, but went 5.0IP scattering five hits and giving up two earned runs in a 5-3 loss.

Jimenez has pitched consistently well for the Canadians and with a few games under his belt, should give the Emeralds his best on Saturday evening.

The Ems have a few weapons of their own that Canadians pitching might want to take notice of.

3B Jedd Gyorko went 6-for-12 (.500) with a pair of doubles against the C's. To put this in a better perspective, Gyorko started the series 0-for-5 before crushing Vancouver pitching in the final two games going six for his last seven at the plate.

Gyorko is a 2nd round selection of the San Diego Padres coming out of West Virginia University.

OF Dan Meeley also got to Canadians pitching going 3-for-8 (.375) with a towering home run out at PK Park, the first in that stadium's young history.

Vancouver will see RHP Keyvius Sampson in the series finale for the second time this summer, and let's hope collectively that the result is better than the first time around.

Sampson dominated the C's offensive attack going five innings, scattering three hits while striking out seven for his first win of the season.

Overall in the Northwest League standings, both the C's and the Emeralds are nexk and neck trying to track down the division leading Everett.

Tickets to this three-game series are available by clicking on the link at the top of this story.