Brito homers twice in Canadians' loss

Ronny Brito belted two home runs in the Vancouver Canadians’ 7-4 loss to the Hillsboro Hops on Thursday. Photo: Jay Blue

July 16, 2021

Official Vancouver Canadians News Release

Hillsboro, OR – Ronny Brito became the first Vancouver Canadians player to hit two home runs in a game this year, but the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) took an early lead and never let up in a 7-4 C’s loss Thursday night at Ron Tonkin Field.

With the Canadians trailing 4-0 in the fifth inning, Phil Clarke singled to set the table for Brito’s fifth blast of the year that made it 4-2. Hillsboro responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to retake a four-run lead until the seventh, when the San Francisco de Macoris, D.R. native came up with Clarke on base again and took Hops starter Slade Cecconi (W, 3-2) deep for the second time in as many at-bats to bring the C’s within two.

A run in the bottom of the seventh put Hillsboro in front 7-4 and despite the tying run coming to the plate in the top of the ninth, Vancouver failed to push any more across as they dropped their second consecutive game this week.

Nick Fraze returned to action for the first time in over a month and was electric through his two scheduled innings to start the game. The right-hander worked two scoreless frames and struck out three of the eight batters he faced, including a pair of three-pitch strikeouts to start the game. Roither Hernandez was the other C’s hurler to not allow a run as Vancouver used five different arms to get through eight innings.

Brito added a single to his line for his first three-hit performance of the year. Clarke finished the night with three hits as well, the first time he logged three knocks in a game this season. Sebastian Espino singled twice.

No. 10 Blue Jays prospect (MLB.com) CJ Van Eyk will start for Vancouver Friday night in game four of the series. The Hops have yet to name their starter. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.