Series At Spokane Ends With Close Loss
SPOKANE, WA – The Canadians fought until the final out but came up just short in a 4-3 loss to the Spokane Indians (Rockies) Sunday night at Avista Stadium, which keeps their magic number to clinch their first postseason berth since 2017 at two games – a combination of C’s
SPOKANE, WA – The Canadians fought until the final out but came up just short in a 4-3 loss to the Spokane Indians (Rockies) Sunday night at Avista Stadium, which keeps their magic number to clinch their first postseason berth since 2017 at two games – a combination of C’s wins and Spokane losses – with six to play.
After three scoreless stanzas, the Indians started the scoring with a one-out inside-the-park home run off the bat of Bladimir Resituyo. His fly ball to deep left field caromed off the wall after Glenn Santiago tried a leaping catch but came up just short; by the time Santiago retrieved the ball halfway back to the infield Restituyo was rounding third to make it 1-0. Mateo Gil followed that up with a homer of his own, one that left the yard and doubled the Spokane advantage.
Two more unearned runs would score in the frame to make it 4-0. Starter Nathanael Perez (L, 0-1) walked the next batter following the Gil homer then got a ground ball to first base that should have been the second out, but an attempt to get the lead runner at second instead of the sure out at first led to an error that put two men aboard. After a flyout (which should have been the final out of the inning), Eddy Diaz cashed in with a two-RBI double that bounced Perez from the game after three and two thirds. Justin Kelly got the next man to limit the damage and keep the C’s within slam range.
Despite the crooked number, Vancouver’s offense went right to work in the top of the fifth. Santiago led off with a walk, Garrett Spain bunted for a base hit and Jommer Hernandez singled home a run to spoil the shutout. After Michael Turconi singled for the seventh time in five games, Dasan Brown plated Spain from third with a sacrifice fly to right field that cut Spokane’s advantage to two runs.
Trailing 4-2, the C’s got another in the sixth. A two-out walk to Miguel Hiraldo forced Indians starter Mason Green (W, 2-4) from the game after five and two-thirds and the newly inserted Robinson Hernandez promptly surrendered an RBI double to Santiago on his second pitch to make it 4-3. The tying run would be stranded on base, however, when Hernandez struck out the next batter to end the threat.
Kelly, Mason Fluharty and Troy Watson combined to allow just one hit with no walks over the last 4.1 innings of the game – and struck out a combined seven Indians in doing so – but the offense couldn’t quite muster that late innings magic that they’ve so often conjured this year after stranding multiple runners on base in the seventh and the ninth to lose 4-3.
Despite the loss, Vancouver wraps up this pivotal series against the only other team with a chance at a postseason spot with wins in five of seven games. They leave Eastern Washington having gained three games on Spokane to lead them by 4.5 games in the overall standings. A Canadians win on Tuesday and an Indians loss would be enough for the C’s to punch their ticket; the Indians go to Pasco next week to take on the Dust Devils (Angels)
After an off-day Monday, the C’s return home Tuesday night to wrap up the regular season slate against Eugene (Giants). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. on the final BCLC PlayNow Tuesday of the year. Coverage is available on CanadiansBaseball.com, MiLB.TV and the Sportsnet Radio Network.