Tenacious C's End First Half In Style With 13-9 Win
SPOKANE, WA – A two-homer game from Tucker Toman highlighted an 18-hit attack in a 13-9 comeback win for the Canadians over the Spokane Indians (COL) Thursday night at Avista Stadium. Toman’s first big fly came in the top of the third. After the Indians raced out to a 2-0
SPOKANE, WA – A two-homer game from Tucker Toman highlighted an 18-hit attack in a 13-9 comeback win for the Canadians over the Spokane Indians (COL) Thursday night at Avista Stadium.
Toman’s first big fly came in the top of the third. After the Indians raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first then overcame a three-run second from the C’s with two more scores in their half, the Columbia, SC native plugged the first pitch of the frame the opposite way to tie the game 4-4.
The Indians got to starter Dylan Watts for three runs in the third to bounce him from the game and take a 7-4 lead before Toman came to the plate with a man at second and two outs in the fourth. He stroked his second RBI double in has many games to cut the deficit to two.
Jack Eshleman (W, 1-0) put up two much-needed zeroes in the fourth and fifth to give the offense a chance to retake the lead in the sixth. Eric Snow uncorked his second homer in 25 hours then two walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs for Edward Duran. The #18 Blue Jays prospect fell behind 1-2 before lining a go-ahead two-RBI single into left centre for his fourth hit of the game to make it 8-7.
The heavyweight battle continued in the bottom of the sixth. Spokane landed a pair of jabs with lead-off singles then tied the game with a sacrifice fly on a highlight reel-worthy catch from Matt Scannell that saved multiple runs. That effort would be short-lived; a two-out double in the next at-bat put the Indians back in front 9-8.
A five-run seventh proved to be the haymaker the C’s needed to end their five-game losing streak. Sam Shaw worked a one-out walk, Snow singled to put runners at the corners before stealing second and Peyton Williams singled home Shaw to tie the game. Alexis Hernandez doubled in another run to put Vancouver in front and Toman launched a 428-foot blast over the right field caboose to ice the game.
Trace Baker (S, 3) turned in a marvelous late-inning performance for an overtaxed bullpen. The Winterville, NC product held Spokane to three base runners over the final three frames, including consecutive one-out walks in the eighth that had the tying run on deck before he induced an inning-ending double play. He mowed down the side in order in the ninth with two of this three strikeouts on the night.
Eight of nine starters reached base and six had multiple hits. Toman finished 3-for-5 with a double, two homers, 10 total bases and five RBI, Duran went 4-for-6 with a pair of RBI while Williams and Hernandez were both 3-for-5. 18 hits are a season high and two shy of the franchise record, which was most recently matched on August 6, 2024 in a 19-2 win over Eugene that featured 20.
With tonight’s result, the Canadians wrap the first half with a 27-39 record. That’s their worst first half showing in the High-A era. They’ll look to kickstart the second half tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m., with Holden Wilkerson toeing the slab opposite Spokane’s Jordy Vargas. Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on the Sportsnet 650 alternate stream.
For tickets and more information throughout the 75th anniversary season of The Nat, visit CanadiansBaseball.com, call 604-872-5232 and follow the C’s on social via @vancanadians.