The Northwest League Vancouver Canadians extended their hot streak to eight wins in their last eleven games with a tight 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Dust Devils Saturday.
Despite falling behind to a ground-out RBI in the first inning after newly promoted Leonardo Gil booted the ball at third base, tight pitching from Matt Fitts kept the Dust Devils close for long enough for the Canadians’ bats to heat up.
That happened in the 4th inning when Dave Thomas singled up the middle, Dusty Napoleon sprayed a base hit to left, and Jeremy Barfield cranked a shot down the left field line that drove them both in. Leonardo Gil then atoned for his earlier error by sending Barfield home on an RBI single to right, making it 3-1 C’s.
In the 6th inning when clubhouse captain Mike Lissman added a homerun to left field, giving Vancouver a 3-run lead, but in the bottom of the frame, Tri-City’s Scott Robinson took Ben Hornbeck long to keep the Dust Devils close.
A sac fly to Tri-City designated hitter Thomas Simmons made the score 4-3 in the 8th inning, before Vancouver’s usually reliable closer, Jose ‘Goose’ Guzman, found himself in a final inning panic situation.
After giving up a lead-off double to Austin Rauch and seeing him sac-bunted to 3rd, pinch-runner Chad Lembeck broke for home on an attempted steal, only for catcher Dante Love to nail him at the plate, securing a tight and much needed victory.
Highlights for the C’s included lead-off man JD Pruitt hitting 3-5, Dusty Napoleon going 3-4 with a run scored, and Leonardo Gil going 2-3 with an RBI. Matt Fitts and Ben Hornbeck combined for 7 innings of 5-hit, 2-run ball.
Vancouver sits equal second in the NWL West after the win, three games behind Salem Keizer with a three game home stand against them starting July 31.
| July 26, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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