C's bump the slump with 5-2 victory over Eugene

(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium) - The Vancouver Canadians scored three runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and never looked back as the C's topped Eugene 5-2 out at Nat Bailey Stadium on Thursday evening in front of 4,483 fans.

Vancouver's trio of runs in the home half of the 1st inning came off of Eugene starter LHP Pedro Martinez who walked four (Gernaldo Castillo, Jordan Tripp, Tony Thompson and A.J. Kirby-Jones) of the seven hitters in the Canadians line-up before he was replaced by RHP Xavier Esquivel.

The Emeralds would bounce back and score a pair of runs off of Canadians RHP Nathan Long in the top of the 2nd inning. CF Rymer Liriano drew a walk, stole his 15th base of the season and advanced to third base on a balk before coming around to score on a double from 3B Tyler Stubblefield. A groundout off the bat of DH Brett Basham scored Stubblefield cut the lead to 3-2.

Pitching took over until the bottom of the 6th inning when the C's managed a lone run. 1B A.J. Kirby-Jones hit his fourth double of the season and was cashed in when DH Ryan Lipkin crushed his seventh double of the summer to left field extending the Canadians lead to 4-2.

An insurance run for the Canadians came in the bottom of the 7th inning when 2B Gernaldo Castillo singled and later scored on a single off the bat of RF Douglas Landaeta.

Vancouver would lock down a 5-2 victory on Thursday night as the pitching combination of RHP Nathan Long, RHP Zack Thornton and RHP A.J. Griffin combined to hold the Emeralds scoreless over the final seven innings of the win.

The Vancouver Canadians and Eugene Emeralds will play the rubber match of this three-game series on Friday, July 23rd at 1:05pm. Vancouver sends RHP Jonathan Joseph to the mound in search of the C's second straight victory.

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