It was Nooner number one of the 2008 season for the C’s, and was one they’d like to forget.  With the winning run on first, and the tying run on second, with one out in the bottom of the 9th, Julio Rivera swung at a high pitch, to strikeout, before teammate Mitch LeVier did the same during the next, and final AB of the game.

Here’s how the boys of summer lined up in their 4th game:

CF Mitch ‘No Fear’ Levier (left)
DH JD ‘Beanball’ Pruitt
SS Jason ‘Fundamentalist’ Christian
LF Jareck ‘Wild Wild’ West
3B Walter ‘WAAAAALT!’ Correa
1B Dan ‘Good King’ Wentzell
RF Jeremy ‘Legacy’ Barfield
2B Marcos ‘Luuuu’ Luis
C Juan ‘Bullet-Time’ Nunez
SP Carlos ‘Sit-Down’ Hernandez

The C’s took the field for the 4th time this year, against the Dust Devils, who had, going into this game, taken two of three from the C’s.  Carlos Hernandez was making his first start since last season, where he appeared twice in relief for the C’s, and he was looking to rebound from those two tough outings.

JD Pruitt got the Nooner crowed going in the bottom of the 1st, tripling with one out.  Any other runner on the team would’ve managed a double, at most, but Pruitt hustled his way to third, and slid into the base for his first triple of the season.  Unfortunately, Jason ‘The Fundamentalist’ Christian and Wild Wild West couldn’t cash him home.  0-0 after one.

The top of the 3rd was a very good one for the Dust Devils, as they scored a run off of Hernandez who was pounding the zone with his breaking ball on two strikes.  Radames Nazario singled to open the half-inning, before stealing second with one out.  He advanced to third with two out, and came home when Leonardo Reyes doubled to Jeremy Barfield.  On the next play, a phenomenal throw from Jareck West in left, threw out Leonardo Reyes as he tried to score on a Charlie Blackmon single to left. 

The C’s answered in the bottom half, trading in two outs for a run, as Marcos Luis scored on a Mitch LeVier double play.  1-1 after three.

In the 5th, Patrick Rose scored on a single to Marcos Luis, who couldn’t come up with a play.  2-1 Dust Bunnies.

Vancouver got the run back in the bottom half of the 6th, with Lorenzo Macias coming around to score.  The inning started with a Juan Nunez single, before he advanced on a sac bunt. Lorenzo Macias came into replace Nunez on the base paths, and advanced to 3rd on a ground out.  A new pitcher didn’t fare much better, with Jason Christian reaching on Catcher Interference, putting runners on the corners.

Jareck West singled-in Macias, and advanced The Fundamentalist to 2nd.  Walter Correa had an infield single which loaded up the bases, before Dan Wentzell grounded out with the bases loaded to end the threat. 

Bad King Wentzell… BAD KING! (rolled-up newspaper to the nose)

2-2 after 6.

Tri-City didn’t waste much time re-gaining the lead, this time with Edgar Tejeda on the mound for the C’s.  Tejeda got Jhaysson Agustin out swinging, before Radames Nazario got very unlucky, with Jareck West coming up with an amazing catch.   Catcher interference and a single put Pat Rose on 2nd and Thomas Field at 1st, with two gone.  Leonardo Reyes singled to center, and Rose came down to score.  Tejeda intentionally walked the bases, but Scott Robinson flied out to Mitch LeVier, ending the inning.  3-2.

Shawn Haviland saw his first action of the ‘08 season, and the Harvard grad scared the Nat Bailey crowd.  With one out, back-to-back singles but runners on first and second.  A fly out made it a bit easier on him, but a wild pitch advanced Chris Vasami to 3rd base.  Luckily for Shawn, Pat Rose was called out on strikes to end the Top of the 8th.

The 9th inning wasn’t terrible, except for a defensive blunder from defensive replacement, catcher Julio Rivera.

Jose ‘Goose’ Guzman came in to pitch, and had Thomas ‘Corn’ Field standing on 1st, with one out.  After a pitch from Guzman, Rivera threw the ball to Dan Wentzell to hold the runner, but the throw was wild and Field stood on 3rd.  Then, the batter only had to hit a sac fly to score Field, and it would be a costly run.  4-2 Tri-City going into the last half-inning.

Austin ‘Chamber’ Chambliss came into pitch, and had the crowd on their feet.

He walked Walter Correa to open the inning, before Dan Wentzell went down on strikes.  Jeremy Barfield singled, and Correa advanced to 2nd, before a questionable play by the SS Thomas Field scored Correa on a Marcos Luis single.

So pinch-runner Carlos Arrieche stood on 2nd base, the tying run, and the winning run, Marcos Luis was on 1st.  Only one out, and Julio Rivera was due up.  Well, how can I put this?  He swung at a very high pitch, and missed.  Two out.

No Fear LeVier?  He had a great AB, but struck out swinging as well, and the Canadians lost, 4-3. 

Game Notes:

Juan Nunez was named the in-stadium Player of the Game, and I know he went 2-2, but was the person who chose the POG watching the same game I was?  Jareck West was amazing.  An amazing catch, to call of Mitch LeVier, that definitely prevented a double or triple, and threw out a runner at home, from Left Field.  Oh yeah, and he went 1-4 at the plate with an RBI.  He has now driven in a run in 3 of the teams’ 4 games.  I mean, Nunez had a good game, but personally I don’t think he compared to West.

Thomas Field, SS for Tri-City, was one of the poorest players on the field. And I’m being nice.  Whenever he’d get the ball, he’d wait to see what to do.  And I don’t mean split-second decisions, I’m talking about 3-4 second decisions.  He was only charged with an error, but could’ve been given two or three, from what I recall.  There were also numerous occasions when he’d hold onto the ball and not do anything.  He will probably not be in the lineup tomorrow, from his performance defensively today.  Offensively, however, he was 2-3, scoring once.

On the hill, Carlos Hernandez, was great.  Six innings, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB, 6 SO and one of the best curveballs I’ve seen at Nat Bailey.  What a beauty, that was torching the mid-70’s on the NFTN Radar Gun.  His Fastball was hitting around 86-88, but the breaking ball was having fans ooo-ing and aww-ing all over the place. 

Edgar Tejeda, got the loss, but didn’t give up an earned run.  He did let a run score, but it was unearned.  He struck out one, in his inning of work, and got lucky when Jareck West robbed a Dust Devil of a sure extra-base hit.

Shawn Haviland started his professional career today, and was pretty solid, throwing an inning, where he gave up a pair of hits and struck out a pair of batters. 

Goose Guzman pitched for the 2nd time this season, and gave up a run, because of Julio Rivera’s throwing error.  He only gave up a hit and struck out one.  His ERA stands at 0.00.

Hector Garcia will take the mound tomorrow, and is rumoured to throw in the High-90’s.  It should be a real treat to watch, in the finale of the Opening Homestand, and on the 2nd of 9 Fireworks Nights. 

NOTES FROM OZ:

Several things.

1) I’m sunburned. Rock.

2) Julio Rivera may be a heck of a guy. He might help old ladies across the street and work in soup kitchens in his spare time. He might never have dumped a girl because she wasn’t pretty enough. He might call his parents regularly. He might say his prayers and eat his vitamins and sign autographs for all the little Canucksters at the ballpark. Heck, he might even vote for Democrats. I’ll bet he even pays his taxes early.

But, you know what? I’ve been waiting for over a year now to see this kid have a great game in a C’s uniform, and he seems to be going the other way fast. Right now the dude is plain awful. To have the game on the line and men on the bases and be one run down with two outs in the bottom of the last, and to then go swinging at one of the worst pitches of the day - a pitch that would have been over Brent Lysander’s head - is unforgiveable.

I’m over his catcher interference lapses. I’m over his ‘it’s easier to swing for the fences and go down in three pitches than work a pitcher into a good count’ routine. I’m over his continual dalliance with the Mendoza line.

It’s time to make Juan Nunez our regular catcher. Send Julio back down the schoolyard and bring back Dante Love.

Sorry Julio. I know you’re not the only one dug into a hole of suck right now, you’re just the one doing the hardest shoveling. And honestly, I’m not saying this to be mean. I’m saying it because… well… you’re sucking the life out of the Nat Bailey Stadium experience right now. 

Play some hardball, kid. Lose a tooth on the way to a victory. Drop your shoulder into a baserunner like Nunez did today. Live and die on every at bat.

Play it like we would, given half a chance. Because you might not have too many chances left.