Canadians Back In Win Column After Decisive 5-1 Victory
SPOKANE, WA – It took just two hours and one minute for the Canadians to earn a 5-1 victory over Spokane and break their three game losing streak. After a scoreless four innings, Vancouver scored a run in every inning from the 5th onward to beat the Indians and inch
SPOKANE, WA – It took just two hours and one minute for the Canadians to earn a 5-1 victory over Spokane and break their three game losing streak. After a scoreless four innings, Vancouver scored a run in every inning from the 5th onward to beat the Indians and inch closer to the .500 mark.
Both starting pitchers had their best stuff tonight, as Canadians righthander Fernando Perez (W, 1) and Spokane lefty Michael Prosecky (L, 3) dueled through six innings. After each pitcher put up zeros across the first four frames, Sean Keys got the scoring started in the 5th with an opposite field home run – his third of the season - to make it 1-0.
The Indians quickly tied the game in the home half of the frame with a sacrifice fly, the only run that Perez would give up. The visitors battled right back in the 6th as Carter Cunningham hit a leadoff homerun to put the Canadians up for good.
Vancouver would score an insurance run in each of the next three innings. Jackson Hornung led off the 7th with a double and then came around to score on a bases-loaded groundout by Je'Von Ward. Keys then doubled in the 8th - his third extra base hit of the contest - to bring in another run and make it 4-1. In the 9th, Cunningham blasted his second home run of the game and third of the season to bring the game to its eventual 5-1 final score. The former East Carolina Pirate produced the second multi-homer game by a Vancouver batter this year after Adrian Pinto hit two long balls in last night's game.
Perez pitched his best game of the season, completing six innings while scattering five hits without walking a batter. It's the first time that the #11 Blue Jays prospect had pitched more than four complete innings this season. Nate Garkow (S, 2) pitched the final three innings of the game in what may have been his finest performance of the season. He struck out six batters without allowing any baserunners to reach.
With the win, Vancouver moves to 14-16 on the year, with Spokane falling to 15-15. The series continues tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m. with Grant Rogers on the mound for Vancouver. Canadians baseball can be listened to all week long on the Sportsnet 650 alt stream.