Van Eyk, Espino lead Canadians to 4-3 win
Sebastian Espino had two hits and two runs for the Vancouver Canadians on Wednesday. Photo: Vancouver Canadians/Twitter
June 16, 2021
Official Vancouver Canadians News Release
HILLSBORO, OR – The Vancouver Canadians, led by starting pitcher CJ Van Eyk, edged the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 4-3 Wednesday night as the C’s bounced back to even the series at Ron Tonkin Field.
Van Eyk (W, 2-1) turned in his second consecutive sterling showing to earn the second win of his young career. The right-hander kept the high-powered Everett offence off balance for five innings in which he allowed a first-inning run on two hits but proceeded to allow just one more hit over the next four frames. He walked two and struck out seven.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second, the C’s used three consecutive two out doubles to take a 2-1 lead. Sebastian Espino started the rally with a two-bagger to left field, Ryan Gold brought him home with his team-best 11th double and Luis De Los Santos traded places with Gold to give Vancouver an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.
The C’s added single runs in the third and fourth to pad their lead. Two walks, a stolen base and a Spencer Horwitz RBI ground out helped Vancouver manufacture a run in the third before consecutive singles from Espino and Gold in the fourth set up a DJ Neal RBI single that put the Canadians up 4-1.
Everett got a run in the sixth to cut Vancouver’s lead to two and seemed poised to score again in the eighth. With runners at the corners and one out, Parker Caracci (S, 5) was called upon to preserve the two-run lead. After a stolen base put the tying run in scoring position, Caracci struck out Jake Anchia before Connor Hoover grounded out to end the threat.
Things got interesting again in the ninth. In that inning, a one-out infield single brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Julio Rodriguez, the No. 2 Mariners prospect and one of the most highly regarded talents in Minor League Baseball. Rodriguez hit a ground ball to third that could have been a game-ending double play but instead turned into a throwing error that put runners at the corners with one out and the go-ahead run at the dish. A fielder’s choice scored a run to make it 4-3 before Caracci struck out clean-up hitter Zach Deloach to end the game and secure a 4-3 C’s win.
Espino and Gold led the way on offence with two hits apiece. The former scored twice while the latter scored a run and collected an RBI. Horwitz finished with a double and an RBI in four trips and Cameron Eden went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Game three of the series is set for Thursday night. Right-hander Luis Quinones (1-1, 1.93 ERA) gets the ball for Vancouver while Everett sends MLB.com’s No. 27 Mariners prospect Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) (1-1, 2.42 ERA) to the hill. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.