Two Late Homers Not Enough As C's Fall In Pasco
PASCO, WA – A four-run second inning and two big insurance runs in the seventh stung the Vancouver Canadians in their 7-5 loss to the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) Thursday night at Gesa Stadium. The defeat puts the C’s two games under .500 – their low-water mark this season –
PASCO, WA – A four-run second inning and two big insurance runs in the seventh stung the Vancouver Canadians in their 7-5 loss to the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) Thursday night at Gesa Stadium. The defeat puts the C’s two games under .500 – their low-water mark this season – for the fourth time and 5.5 games out of first place with 15 games to play in the first half.
Vancouver overcame an unearned run in the bottom of the first with a game-tying, two-out RBI single from Mack Mueller in the top of the second, but the Dust Devils countered with four scores in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. They sent eight hitters to the plate and scored those four runs with four hits, a walk and an error that wrapped up #19 Blue Jays prospect Yosver Zulueta’s (L, 0-2) night after 57 pitches over two complete frames.
Abdiel Mendoza kept Tri-City off the scoreboard for three innings and the C’s used Davis Schneider’s lead-off single in the fifth – his second hit of the game – to score a run on a Leo Jimenez infield hit that cut the deficit to three.
Conor Larkin retired the side in order in the sixth but ran into some trouble in the seventh. He surrendered a one-out double then a walk to set up a two-out, two-RBI double off the bat of Steven Rivas that put the Dust Devils in front 7-2.
Down by five with six outs remaining, the Canadians put a man on to start the eighth when Andres Sosa was hit by a pitch. Up stepped Mueller, who cranked his second home run of the year towards the scoreboard in left to make it 7-4. Steward Berroa followed two batters later with his third big fly of the season, a solo shot to right field that brought Vancouver within two runs.
After Thomas Ruwe mowed down the side in the bottom of the eighth, Trevor Schwecke singled in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate but a game-ending double play cut the rally short in a 7-5 loss. It’s the first time this year the C’s have lost consecutive games to the Dust Devils.
Schneider’s two hits make him 7-for-13 with three doubles, a home run, two runs scored, four RBI and two stolen bases in the first three games of the series. Mueller accounted for four of five runs scored in the game while Jimenez and Schwecke both logged two hits.
Vancouver and Tri-City play a doubleheader on Friday to make up a game they lost to rain back in April. Top Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann goes in game one with Naswell Paulino to follow in game two. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Both games can be heard live on CanadiansBaseball.com and the Sportsnet Radio Network.