Gut Check Time: C's fall 4-2 to drop third straight
The Hawks got to Canadians starter RHP Jesse Hernandez in the bottom of the 1st inning when DH Rafael Lopez singled and came around to score on a double off the bat of LF Ryan Cueno to give Boise an early 1-0 lead.
Vancouver ran into a whack of trouble in the bottom of the 2nd inning as the first four Hawks hitters of the frame managed base hits off of Hernandez producing a pair of runs. Luckily for the Canadians, a timely double play combined with a lazy fly out to center field from DH Rafael Lopez helped avoid a huge inning for Boise.
Up 3-0, the Hawks grabbed a run in the bottom of the 4th inning when 2B Zeke DeVoss would triple to the gap in left field before scoring on a sacrifice fly from CF Oliver Zapata to extend the home town lead to four.
Vancouver didn't get to the Boise pitching until the top of the 7th inning when they managed a pair of runs to break the Hawks shutout bid. 2B Jon Berti would lead the frame off with a triple, scoring on a ground out from SS Shane Opitz. DH Garrett Maines would reach shortly after on a fielder's choice and score from first base on a hard hit double off the bat of CF Nick Baligod to cut the Boise lead in half.
Canadians 1B Kevin Patterson would manage a two-out walk from Hawks closer RHP Bryce Shafer to bring the tying run to the plate, but DH Garrett Maines swung through a 2-2 fastball to end the game sending Vancouver to a third straight loss in Boise.
Notes: The Canadians fall to a league worst 3-16 (.158) on the road this second half... Vancouver was re-assigned RHP Noah Syndergaard from Lansing on Thursday but don't expect the 6'5" pitcher to be activated by the Canadians prior to the end of the regular season... RHP Eric Brown was promoted to Lansing of the Midwest League on Wednesday and flew out Thursday from Boise.
With the loss, Vancouver falls to 38-36 (.514) on the summer and look to the Eugene Emeralds to win the Northwest League West Division if they are to challenge for the NWL Championship. Should Vancouver advance to the post-season, the Canadians would host Game 1 of the 2011 Scotiabank Playoffs on Monday, September 5th at 1:05pm out at Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Three-game ticket packages to the 2011 Scotiabank Playoffs are on-sale now. To grab your piece of the 2011 Scotiabank Playoffs, call 604.872.5232 or visit the Nat Bailey Box Office at 4601 Ontario Street in Vancouver, BC.