Canadians Erupt For 14 Runs In First Win Of 2026

VANCOUVER, BC – For the first time in 2026, the Canadians have found the win column. The offense exploded for 14 runs on 12 hits to beat the Eugene Emeralds (SF) 14-5 at The Nat Thursday night.

The C’s took the lead in the bottom of the first and never gave it up. JR Freethy led off with a walk and a Carter Cunningham single put two men aboard with one out. Dub Gleed singled home Freethy and scored later in the inning on a Manny Beltre double that made it 2-0.

Starter Landen Maroudis put up consecutive zeroes in the first two frames then surrendered a run in the third before he was removed after 2.2 innings of work. On came Gilberto Batista (W, 1-0), who inherited the bases loaded and two outs but struck out the final man of the frame to keep the Canadians in front 2-1.

A four-spot in the fourth put the game away for good. All nine men came to the plate in the inning, highlighted by an RBI double off the bat of Matt Scannell, a two RBI single from Cunningham and a sacrifice fly courtesy of Gleed.

Batista stifled the Ems over the middle innings. The righty stranded two runners in the fourth, a two-out double in the fifth and a pair of men in the sixth. He ran out of gas in the seventh, surrendering two runs on three hits in that inning before he was replaced by Carson Pierce (S, 1). Batista’s final line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K.

Leading 6-3, Vancouver put up five runs in the seventh thanks to three hits – including a two-run double from Arjun NImmala – two walks and a hit batter to lead 11-3 before adding three more in the eighth. Kendry Chirinos collected the lone hit in the penultimate frame, while the C’s were aided by three walks and a hit batsman.

Eugene scratched across two runs in the ninth, but it was too little, too late in a 14-5 C’s triumph.

All nine starters reached base and eight had a hit. Cunningham paced the offense with a 4-for-5 showing that included four RBI and a walk, Gleed plated four, Tucker Toman had two knocks and Freethy walked four times.

Vancouver aims to even the series tomorrow in the first FortisBC ‘Nooner of the season. Daniel Guerra takes the ball for the C’s against Emeralds right-hander Hunter Dryden. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Get tickets at CanadiansBaseball.com and follow the action on Sportsnet 650, Bally Sports Live and @vancanadians across social.