Short game report tonight, and it happened to be one in which the excitement peaked early, with 12 runs scroing in the opening two innings.

In the 1st, after Sulentic, Doolittle and Hamblin loaded the bases with a fielder’s choice, a walk and a single, Corey Brown [seen left] strode to the batter’s box and put a charge on a shot to left field that opened his pro home run-hitting career with a grand slam.

Singles, doubles, errors and walks kept things close for Yakima in the bottom of the frame, as they traded blows with the C’s to trail 4-3 going into the 2nd, but once again it was the C’s that made the early running, with a bases-loaded walk to Matt Sulentic and a Danny Hamblin sac fly bringing two more runs in for the good guys; 6-3 to the Canadians.

That lead was short lived, however, as errors and pitching problems gave the Bears an in they should never have been granted. A Matt Ray fielding error and a balk from Pedro Figueroa pushed the first run in for Yakima, with a passed ball and a Justin Frash fielding error bringing in 3 more before all was said and done, tying the scores at 6 a piece.

Brent Lysander took over from Figueroa in the 3rd, and he sat them in order, although he had to pick off the leadoff hitter after walking him to open the frame in order to do that.

A Doolittle double and a Danny Hamblin sac fly brought in Matt Ray in the 4th to give the C’s a fleeting lead, and with the bases once again juiced in the 5th, Hamblin had the chance to exend his team’s lead… sadly, he struck out instead.

That wasn’t a rarity for the C’s, unfortunately, as they again left the bases loaded in the 6th when William Spottiswood struck out The Manta Ray looking.

Dan Brent Lysander was clinical in his three innings of work, and to his credit, Nick Walters wasn’t far off when he took over in the 6th. Yes, the Bears scored a run off his pitching, and yes, he opened his night conceding a double to ‘The Rock’, Joe Ayers, but if not for a Walt Correa error that sent the lead runner to 3rd, he likely would have got through the inning unscathed. Alas, 7-7.

The scores stayed glued until the top of the 8th, when a Corey Brown lead-off double set the table, and a Correa bunt and Spottiswood throwing error saw him cruise home, and another error in the field cost Yakima big when, with two outs and WAAALT! on 3rd base, Bears 2nd baseman Miguel Rodriguez booted a grounder, and Correa scored; Vancouver 9-7, and that’s how it ended with Leo Espinal nailing the door shut in the 9th (despite ANOTHER error from Correa).

June 27, 2007
	Final    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      R   H   E   Vancouver   4   2   0   1   0   0   0   2   0      9   8   5   Yakima   3   3   0   0   0   1   0   0   0      7   9   2  wrap | box | log W: N. Walters (1-0, 0.00); L: W. Spottiswood (0-1, 2.16); SV: L. Espinal (4) HR: VAN: C. Brown (1).

GAME NOTES:

* Matt Ray hasn’t been beating hell out of the ball so far in the NWL season, but tonight he was given a little extra responsibility as regular lead-off guy JD Pruitt was rested, and The Manta delivered, with a 1-4 night, with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. His average sits at .118 – and that’s an improvement on yesterday.

* Some will call Matt Sulentic’s night a failure, but only because he has traditionally had the bar set so high for him by those impatient for him to start in the Majors. With 1-4 and two walks, a double and a run scored, his is a line most hitters wouldn’t complain about.

* A 4-RBI night for Uptown Corey Brown is just the start of his big game – think 3-4 with 2 runs, one double, 4 RBIs and two walks – that’s nothing to sneeze at.

* Three throwing errors for Walter Correa points to a problem in his game that needs to be addressed if he’ll ever expect to be ready for the Majors… or even High-A ball.

* Shane Keough had a 205 night with a run scored, to bring his average up almost to the Mendoza Line. We’re still dealing in small sample sizes, but it’s nice to see his BA moving in the right direction.

* Figueroa got beaten up on the mound today, even so far as giving up two balks, but the performances of bullpen staff such as Dan Brent Lysander (three innings clean), Nick Walters (3 IP, no earned runs), and Leonardo Espinal (1 inning, 1K) kept the C’s in the game when the pressure was on.  

And JD Pruitt didn’t get hit by a pitch today. Unless somone nailed him with a softball in the parking lot.