Fields Steals Show in 9-2 Victory Over Emeralds
(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, BC) The Canadians bats erupted for a season-high seven-run inning and CF Roemon Fields set a new franchise stolen base record on Monday night, as Vancouver steamrolled Eugene 9-2 in the first of a five-game series at Scotiabank Field.
Already up 1-0, Fields led off the C's breakout inning in the third with a line drive single to center and would proceed to steal both second and third base for his 25th and 26th swipes of the season, besting the previous franchise standard of 25 set by Michael Richard in 2007.
After scoring on SS Franklin Barreto's triple two batters later, the speedy Seattle-native would also record the innings first out on a sacrifice fly as the Canadians incredibly batted around the entire order before Eugene registered an out. In total, Vancouver sent 12 batters to the plate scoring seven runs on three singles, three walks, a triple, hit batter, and a three-run home run courtesy of C Michael De La Cruz, his first of the season.
Lost in the Canadians run parade was the work of starter LHP Jairo Labourt who went 4.2 scoreless innings with six strikeouts against only two walks. The big Dominican southpaw was just a single out away from picking up his second win of the season before a pair of two out hits brought him up to pitch count concerns, prompting a call to the bullpen. LHP Francisco Gracesqui was perfect in relief, retiring all four batters he would face on two strikeouts to pick up his second win while maintaining his spotless 0.00 ERA.
The C's win against Eugene gives them a 7-2 mark in series openers this year, and magnifying its importance was Spokane's loss to Boise which pulls Vancouver back within three games of the North Division lead with just seven left to play. Vancouver plays game two of this five game series on Tuesday night at 7:05pm with tickets available by phone at 604.872.5232 or at the Nat Bailey Stadium Box Office located at 4601 Ontario Street, Vancouver, B.C.