The Canadians trailed Tri-City by five heading into the bottom of the 9th before managing a trio of runs to push the Dust Devils to the brink of defeat. But the Cs came up short in a 5-3 loss Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd at Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Vancouver faced tough pitching early on as Dust Devils starter, left-hand pitcher Roberto Padilla limited the red-hot Canadians offense to just one hit over his six innings of work for his first win of the summer.
The Canadians entered the series with four wins and one loss in a five-game road series against Spokane.
At home Wednesday night, the Dust Devils sparkled defensively with shortstop Joey Wong robbing Balbino Fuenmayor on a line drive that eventually became part of a double play in the bottom of the 8th inning to stifle a bases-loaded rally with just one out.
Vancouver would manage three runs in the bottom of the 9th inning and bring right fielder Nick Baligod to the plate with the tying run out at second base, but he grounded out to Tri-Citys first-baseman Jordan Ribera to end the game.
The Canadians stranded nine runners on the night.
NOTES
After going 10-for-21(.476) at bat through his first five games, Canadians first baseman Fuenmayor went 0-for-4 Wednesday night.
University of B.C. student and right-hand pitcher Eric Brown went four innings in his first home start of the season, scattering three hits and giving up just one earned run while striking out three.
The Canadians announced a sellout crowd of 5,157, marking the 9th consecutive regular season sellout at Scotiabank Field. Former Canadians manager Rich Miller threw the ceremonial first pitch as part of a pre-game ceremony celebrating the 2011 Northwest League Championship season.
NEXT GAME
The Canadians play game two of their five-game home stand against the Dust Devils Thursday, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. Right-hand pitcher Taylor Cole (1-0 0.00) will get the start for the Cs.
For tickets, call 604-872-5232.
