Mistakes Cost Canadians In Friday Defeat

SPOKANE, WA – Baseball isn’t played in a vacuum, so you can’t say for sure that the Canadians would have won on Friday if things had played out differently. But with the luxury of hindsight (and some armchair quarterbacking) you can see how the C’s gave the game away in a 10-5 loss to the Spokane Indians [Rockies] at Avista Stadium.

Trailing 4-2 to begin the bottom of the sixth, Vancouver sent Naswell Paulino to the hill for his second inning of relief. He gave up a single to the first hitter then got a flyout from the next before inducing a ground ball to second baseman Estiven Machado that most certainly could have been an inning-ending double play. The ball skipped under his glove to put runners at the corners and set up a sacrifice fly that would have otherwise been the last out of the inning to make it 5-2 Spokane.

The Canadians responded with a run of their own in the seventh after failing to put a man on base for 13 consecutive hitters between the second and the sixth. Garrett Spain sparked things with a lead-off double to centerfield, moved to third on a Devonte Brown single and scored on a double play to put the C’s back within a pair. Machado singled in the next at-bat to bring the tying run to the plate, but one was all they’d get in the frame.

As costly as an unearned run can be, it was a pair of missteps in the bottom of the eighth that proved to be the difference in the game. Braden Scott entered for his second appearance of the series and gave up a double to start the inning. He struck out Ben Sems then walked Nic Kent. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, the lefty went back-and-forth with Benny Montgomery before walking him on seven pitches to load the bases.

Up stepped reigning Northwest League Player of the Week Jordan Beck, who struck a sharp ground ball on a 3-2 pitch directly at shortstop Josh Kasevich for what seemed about to be the final out of the inning. But after Kasevich gloved it cleanly and rose to make the throw, he discovered that Rainer Nunez had not gone to cover first; Kasevich had to double pump then put it in his pocket, a run scored and the inning continued. Nunez – who has been a huge asset at first base for the C’s this season – was playing well off the bag by design and likely thought the shortstop was going to go to second for the inning-ending force out, but with speed aboard at first in Montgomery and all three runners going on a full count pitch the only play was to first base.

That set up an unfortunate bit of historic déjà vu. When the C’s were in town on July 31, 2021, Michael Toglia – then the #3 Rockies prospect and now shuttling between Triple-A and the big leagues – hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game 4-4. It just so happens that it was the first night of Spokane’s “Grand Slam Weekend” event, an annal promotion where nine lucky fans are assigned to one inning each game and if an Indians hitter goes deep with the bases loaded in their inning, they win $10,000.

Fast forward to tonight, and the Canadians just so happen to be back for what is now “Grand Slam Night.” In just the second at-bat with the bases loaded in the game, #10 Rockies prospect Yanquiel Fernandez hit a mistake very, very far to blow the game open and win Kelly Hunter a cool ten grand. Perhaps the sponsor should make sure the C’s aren’t in town when they put it on the schedule in 2024.

Vancouver still had three outs to work with in the ninth and they made the most of them. Devonte Brown led off with a single, a wild pitch moved him over and Jommer Hernandez doubled him home. Hernandez went to third on a ground out and came in when Alan Roden singled for his second hit of the day. The Canadians couldn’t manage any more scores and fell 10-5.

A fun thought experiment: subtract the five runs in the bottom of the eighth and Vancouver rallies to tie it in the ninth. Turn two to end the inning in the sixth and the C’s take a 5-4 lead into the last of the ninth. Oh what could have been…

Losers of three straight, the Canadians have tabbed #11 Blue Jays prospect Dahian Santos and right-hander Eric Pardinho as the starters for tomorrow’s doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. with game two set to begin approximately 40 minutes after game one. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com and the Sportsnet Radio Network.

The C’s return to Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium May 30-June 4 for a six-game series with the Eugene Emeralds (Giants).