Late Homers Doom C's in 5-4 Loss

EVERETT, WA – A pair of late inning home runs proved to be the difference in Thursday’s 5-4 loss for the Canadians opposite the Everett AquaSox [Mariners] at Funko Field.

Vancouver trailed 2-0 after six but rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh. Garrett Spain extended his hitting streak to a team-best 14 games with a lead-off single, went first to third on a base hit from Peyton Williams and scored on a Josh Kasevich sacrifice fly. That brought Devonte Brown to the plate, who uncorked his fourth homer of the year on the first pitch to make it 3-2 C’s.

The lead didn’t last long. With a man on and two outs in the bottom of the inning, Randy Bednar took reliever Naswell Paulino (L, 1-2) deep to put the Frogs back in front by a run. Another homer – this time a solo shot from number nine hitter Blake Rambusch in the eighth – padded the Everett lead to 5-3.

That homer proved to be crucial. The Canadians rallied in the ninth on a one-out double and an RBI single from Williams to bring themselves within one, but after pinch runner Dasan Brown went to second on a ground out and stole third, the game ended on a strikeout with the tying tally 90 feet away.

Williams set the pace on offense with two hits and reached three times. Andres Sosa also had two hits.

With the loss, the Canadians are now one game back of Spokane [Rockies] for first place in the Northwest League. 12 games remain in the first half of the 2023 season.

Vancouver looks to return to the win column tomorrow night. #11 Blue Jays prospect Dahian Santos will be opposed by southpaw Raul Alcantara when things get going at 7:05 p.m. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, the MiLB First Pitch app and the Sportsnet Radio Network.