After a very promising series victory against the NWL First-Place Spokane Indians, things were beginning to look very promising for Vancouver Canadians fans.  However, a series loss to Salem-Keizer now has Vancouver 8 games back of the Volcanoes.  The C’s still have 20 games remaining in the short NWL season, and if they pull of a late-season push, they could end up finding themselves in a playoff position, that is if they sweep Salem, crush Eugene, beat Everett and have a good series against Boise.

Two new pitchers who are very capable of pitching well, mixed in with the tremendous starting pitching Vancouver’s had this season makes it seem like Vancouver isn’t out of it, just yet.  Vancouver is 4-2 in their last six games, and in their last 11 games at home (11 of their last 20 games are at Nat Bailey Stadium), the C’s are 5-6. 

Boise Hawks: 

The Eastern Division’s second place team, just 5 games back of the Spokane Indians, are coming off a 12-5 victory over those Indians two nights ago, and fortunately for the Canadians, are in the middle of a ’slump’.  In their last 9 games, they’re 3-6.  Boise is 19-16 against Western Division opponents this season, including sweeping the Everett Aquasox in 5 games back in July.  When Vancouver visited Idaho, Boise took the series, 3-2. 

Who’s Hot:

1B Ryan Keedy, who is hitting .361 on the season, is batting .333 in his last 10 games.  In his last game on Wednesday, he was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI.  His OPS for the season is .934. 

3B Josh Vitters, brother of 2006 Canadian Christian, a former first round pick, is hitting .343 all season, and .341 in his last 10 games, with one home-run and 8 RBI.  In his last 5 games, Vitters has 9 hits in 22 at-bats.  He should be the one guy standing out on the field.

INF Ryan Flaherty has been tearing it up in the NWL this season, with 6 home-runs in 37 games.  To top it off, he’s batting .319 and in his last 10 games, is batting .409 with 4 home-runs.  Last week he was 4-5 with two doubles and a triple in a game against Yakima.  He was a HR away from the cycle.

RHP Dan McDaniel, the team’s relief pitcher/closer has been excellent for the Hawks.  In 23.1 innings, he’s given up just one run, for an ERA of .39.  He’s generally been used for 1-2 innings every three games or so.  He has 12 more strikeouts on the year than he does innings!

Vancouver Canadians:

Who’s Hot:

RF Jeremy Barfield has been dominant in his last two weeks.  After hitting his first homerun against Tri-City Barfield has been hard to stop at the dish.  Barfield was 5-12 against Salem-Keizer, which included a 3-4 night on Wednesday.  Barfield has two home-runs all season, and is batting .293 for the year.  It’s safe to say, he’s doing pretty well as a NWL rookie.

SS Jason Christian, a Loveland Ohio native, is batting .292 for the season, just .001 back of Jeremy Barfield for the team lead.  Christian has had just two games in his last 10 without a hit, and was 2-4 with a double on Thursday afternoon.  Christian has hit three home-runs all season, with two of the three coming against Boise. 

2B Marcos Luis has been hampered by injuries this season,  but when’s he’s played, both offensively and defensively he’s been very good.  Marcos has played just 8 times since July 20th when he hurt his ankle in the field, but is hitting .286 for the season.  Luis has just three errors, and was 3-7 in a series against Everett earlier in August.

OF JD Pruitt, who has been sidelined since July 27th with a concussion, was 4-6 in his last two games before coming out after being hit-by-a-pitch.  Pruitt demolished the NWL HBP record last season, and this year has two home-runs, both at Nat Bailey, including a grand slam.  Pruitt may be in the C’s lineup by the end of the series.  If he is, Vancouver will certainly appreciate his baseball smarts at the dish.

3B Rodney Rutherford has easily been one of the best hitters on the Canadians team in the last week.  Since August 6th, Rutherford is 9-23, with two walks, 8 RBI, a triple and three doubles.  He has a 6-game hitting streak, and 8-game on base streak.

RHP Mike Hart is 0-0 with an ERA of 1.08 in 12 games, 3 of which were starts.  He’s given up just 3 earned runs all season, and in 25 innings has 34 strikeouts.  He’s given up no runs in his last 7 appearances, and in those 7 games, has 23 strikeouts in 16.1 innings.  

LHP Brad Hertzler hasn’t given up any runs or hits in his lone appearance of the NWL season, and Right-handed fireballer Daniel Thomas has an ERA of 1.86 since joining the Canadians.  

Friday is a 7:05 start, Saturday as well, before a Nooner on Sunday.  Monday is at 7:05 and the series concludes at 1:05 on Tuesday.