Bats Batter Dust Devils, King Works Late En Route To 14-2 Win
PASCO, WA – An offensive onslaught – highlighted by near-cycle performances by Tucker Toman and Brennan Orf – backed a terrific start from #3 Blue Jays prospect Johnny King in a 14-2 triumph over the Tri-City Dust Devils (LAA) Friday night at Gesa Stadium. The C’s hung a crooked number
PASCO, WA – An offensive onslaught – highlighted by near-cycle performances by Tucker Toman and Brennan Orf – backed a terrific start from #3 Blue Jays prospect Johnny King in a 14-2 triumph over the Tri-City Dust Devils (LAA) Friday night at Gesa Stadium.
The C’s hung a crooked number before King (W, 2-1) even threw a pitch. Toman led off with a double then Hayden Gilliland drove him in with a two-bagger of his own. After a wild pitch and an error brought Gilliland in while putting a man at first, a three-base throwing error on Tri-City’s first baseman after a pickoff attempt allowed the third run of the frame to score.
King’s toughest inning was the first. He allowed a single and a walk but stranded both on base then retired the side in order in the second before the Canadians added on in the third. Orf singled, went to second on a wild pitch then scored when JR Freethy singled to make it 4-0.
Three more runs came home in the top of the fourth. With two on and one out, Jacob Sharp laced a single to left to plate a run. Orf doubled later in the frame to put Vancouver in front 7-0.
After a two-out error in the bottom of the inning allowed an unearned run to score, the C’s answered back with three more in the top of the fifth when Toman and Gilliland combined on a trio of RBI to run the score up to 10-1.
King would make it into the sixth inning for the first time this year. His final line: 5.2 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB and 8 K. Trace Baker (S, 1) came on and faced two batters over the minimum across 3.1 frames to close it out.
Late homers from Toman and Freethy were part of four scores over the final three innings and the C’s cruised to a 14-2 win.
All nine starters reached base, seven had a hit and six turned in multi-hit performances. Toman and Orf both finished one hit shy of a cycle – the former needed a triple and the latter a home run – while five different players drove in multiple runs. Toman also established a new single-game season high by scoring five times.
The Canadians look to take their first lead of the series tomorrow night. Holden Wilkerson gets the ball opposite #27 Angels prospect Peyton Olejnik. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
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.