Near No-No Tur(co)n(i)s Into Walk-Off Win

VANCOUVER, BC – Two outs away from getting no-hit in 12 innings, the Canadians used consecutive singles from Devonte Brown and Michael Turconi to beat the Everett AquaSox [Mariners] 2-1 Tuesday night at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.

In what was arguably the wackiest game of the year, both teams’ pitching staffs deserve heaps of praise for keeping the game scoreless for 11 innings. On the home side, Abdiel Mendoza set the tone with five scoreless that featured two hits, no walks and eight punchouts to establish his new personal best this season. Ryan Boyer, Connor Larkin and Matt Svanson followed with two scoreless innings apiece. Boyer and Svanson retired every batter they faced and Larkin K’ed four of the seven hitters he was assigned.

Everett’s Raul Alcantara somehow managed to outdo Mendoza with six hitless innings, two walks and five strikeouts, then Jimmy Kingsbury, Peyton Alford and Jarod Bayless baffled Vancouver’s bats for the next four frames. The C’s had a runner reach scoring position just once in the first nine after Alcantara walked Turconi then hit Cade Doughty with one out in the fourth but escaped the inning with no further blemishes.

Nearly all the offense in the game came in the final inning. After the Frogs scratched out three hits over the first 11 – Cole Young’s lead-off knock in the first, a Ben Ramirez double to start the fifth and a two-out single by Hogan Windish in the ninth – they moved their placed runner to third with a lead-off sacrifice bunt in the 12^th before a shallow fly out kept the runner 90 feet away. Up stepped Windish, who hit the first pitch from Sam Ryan (W, 3-0) off the end of his stick for a broken bat base hit up the middle that plated the first run of the game. Ryan walked the next man then struck out Axel Sanchez to end the inning and keep it 1-0 ‘Sox.

That set up the drama in the bottom half of the stanza. Brown’s single came with one out and the placed runner at second, a well-struck ground ball that just went under the shortstop’s glove and into left field for the first C’s hit of the night. He proceeded to steal second with Turconi at the plate before a 2-2 pitch was knocked into centerfield with the infield in to score a pair and hand the Canadians their league-best ninth walk-off win of the season.

Game two of the series is set for tomorrow night. #9 Blue Jays prospect Adam Macko will be opposed by Everett’s Nick Davila. The RBC We Care Wednesday festivities begin with gates at 6:00 p.m. while first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, the MiLB First Pitch app, Bally Live and the Sportsnet Radio Network.