Gm 61: 12th inning is where Vancouver finds series opening victory vs. Boise

Vancouver, British Columbia -- Stephen Jones uncorked a wild pitch in the bottom of the twelfth inning scoring McGregory Contreras from third base as the Vancouver Canadians (9-14) kept pace in the North Division with a 3-2 extra innings victory over Boise on Saturday night in front of 6,413 fans out at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Will Robertson and Adrian Ramos each had RBI doubles in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings respectively to help Vancouver take a 2-0 lead. Boise would score a pair of runs off Gabriel Ponce with both Yorvis Torrealba and Trey Jacobs connecting on RBI doubles.
The Canadians would strand five runners over the eighth and ninth innings sending the game to extra innings and after twice leaving a runner in scoring position, finally broke through in the home half of the twelfth when McGregory Contreras started the frame in scoring position (each extra inning begins with the last out from the previous inning out at second base), was advanced to third base on a sac bunt fron Luis De Los Santos and scored on Stephen Jones wild pitch that got past Bryant Quijada.
Four Canadians pitchers limited Boise to just five hits over 12 innings offensively with Jared DiCesare allowing just one hit over his four innings striking out a pair before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
Gabriel Ponce allowed two runs, both unearned, over his three innings while Mike Pascoe put a couple runner on in the top of the ninth inning but worked his way out of a jam before Luke Gillingham worked three scoreless innings to grab his first win since July 4th, 2016 when he pitched for the Bluefield Blue Jays. Note: Gillingham left the Blue Jays system for two years to serve his country within the United States Navy.
Both offenses struggled on Saturday with Vancouver going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position while Boise was 3-for-18. Each team left ten runners on-base.
With the win, Vancouver remains five games back of North Division leading Spokane who topped Eugene 8-1 out at Avista Stadium but made up a game of Everett who fell 8-0 at Salem-Keizer.
The Canadians will send Juan Diaz to the mound on Sunday at 1:05pm in hopes of taking this three-game series from the Hawks. Boise leads the season series 3-2 through five head-to-head meetings.
The game can be heard live on Sportsnet 650 starting at 1:00pm.
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