Late Rallies Not Enough As C's Fall To 'Sox
Hillsboro, OR – The Vancouver Canadians lost a back-and-forth battle with the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) Tuesday night at Ron Tonkin Field as the Frogs outlasted the C’s 6-5 in 11 innings. With the game tied 5-5 after ten, Everett’s Cody Grosse singled up the middle on the third pitch of
Hillsboro, OR – The Vancouver Canadians lost a back-and-forth battle with the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) Tuesday night at Ron Tonkin Field as the Frogs outlasted the C’s 6-5 in 11 innings.
With the game tied 5-5 after ten, Everett’s Cody Grosse singled up the middle on the third pitch of the eleventh to score the placed runner from second and put the ‘Sox ahead for good. Vancouver ran themselves out of a rally in the bottom of the inning when their placed runner was doubled off on a sinking liner to centerfield in the first at-bat of the frame before a fly out ended the game in Everett’s favor.
The C’s twice rallied to tie the game in the later innings. Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, DJ Neal worked a lead-off walk, went to second on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt from Eric Rivera and scored on Tanner Morris’ two-out RBI single to tie the game. It was Morris who came up clutch again in the tenth; with Everett up 5-3, two runners in scoring position and Vancouver down to their last strike, the Crozet, VA native slapped a double up the third base line to beat the shift, score a pair and tie the game at five.
The Canadians started the scoring with a lead-off home run from Luis De Los Santos, his team-best ninth home run of the year and the second time Vancouver had their first hitter of the game go deep (Tanner Kirwer, May 19 at Hillsboro).
Everett scored two in the fourth to take the lead before the C’s tied it in the bottom of the stanza with a single, two walks and a passed ball to make it 2-2. The ‘Sox went ahead with a run in the fifth and led until Morris’ game-tying hit in the eighth.
The top three hitters in the order – De Los Santos, Morris and Spencer Horwitz – had all five hits and four RBI while batters four through nine combined on seven walks and three runs scored.
Sean Mellen and Justin Maese combined on four shutout innings of relief in which they gave up a single hit, walked two and stuck out four.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. tomorrow night. Right-hander Nick Fraze goes for the C’s and will be opposed by Everett’s Stephen Kolek. Coverage begins at the top of the hour on Sportsnet 650. Individual tickets, 12-game plans and season tickets for home games in Hillsboro are available now at CanadiansBaseball.com.