Walk-Off Homer Sees C's Swept In Pasco

PASCO, WA – For the first five seasons of the High-A era, the Canadians have enjoyed beating up on the Tri-City Dust Devils (LAA). This weekend, the script was flipped. Vancouver suffered its third consecutive loss to the future Halos on Sunday afternoon at Gesa Stadium, a 7-5 defeat that was two outs away from a 5-4 win.

With the game tied 4-4 to begin the ninth, a two-out walk to Alexis Hernandez set the table for Carter Cunningham. Hitless up to that point, the Haymarket, VA native drove a 2-1 pitch from Keythel Key (W, 1-0) into the left centrefield gap to give the C’s their first lead since the middle innings on Friday.

That lead lasted all of four batters into the bottom of the ninth. Juanmi Vasquez (L, 0-1) – who navigated a scoreless eighth to keep the game even at four – struck out the first batter of the frame before surrendering consecutive singles to put runners at the corners. The game ended on the very next pitch; Dust Devils first baseman Ryan Nicholson clobbered a walk-off home run to right field that turned a 5-4 lead into a 7-5 defeat.

At the outset, the C’s didn’t look as though they’d be in a position to lose the game in that fashion. Tri-City raced out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning and stretched Vancouver’s scoreless streak to 16.2 innings dating back to Friday. But the offense began to show signs of life in the sixth. Cunningham was hit by a pitch, Maddox Latta singled and a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners before Manny Beltre lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 4-1.

Two more runs scored in the seventh. A one-out single from Brennan Orf, a walk by JR Freethy and an infield hit courtesy of Alexis Hernandez loaded the bases before a wild pitch brought in the second C’s run of the game. Cunningham added another with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to one.

In the eighth, Beltre belted the first homer of his High-A career to tie the game, setting up the rollercoaster of emotions in the ninth.

Newcomer Mason Olson made his C’s debut in relief, tossing 3.1 innings of one-run ball in which he scattered two hits, a walk and three Ks then handed the ball to Carson Pierce. The righty logged a scoreless inning in his first competitive action since August 11, 2024.

With the loss, the C’s are 0-3 to start the season for the second time in the High-A era after dropping three in a row to Spokane (COL) in 2024. They’ll aim for their first win of the year on Opening Night at The Nat, which is set for this Tuesday, April 7 at 7:05 p.m. opposite the 3-0 Eugene Emeralds (SF). MLB Pipeline’s #4 Blue Jays prospect Johnny King takes the ball in the home opener. Get tickets at CanadiansBaseball.com and follow the action on Sportsnet 650, Bally Sports Live and @vancanadians across social.