The Vancouver Canadians are up 1-0 in their playoff series but the Dunedin Blue Jays are down 1-0.
Daytona 6 Dunedin 1
The Jays were one out away from being shutout before Gustavo Pierre came up with an RBI single. Derrick Chung had two hits and was hit by a pitch. Jonathan Jones had a double and a single. Marcus Knecht and Jorge Flores had base knocks. Berti walked once and Newman stole a base despite going 0-for-4. Mike Crouse had a hat trick to lowlight an 0-for-4 night at the plate.
Vancouver 5 Everett 1
Mitch Nay singles in his first plate appearance in Vancouver. Nay was called up from Bluefield along with pitchers Chase DeJong, Brady Dragmire and Jairo Labourt.
Vancouver, BC — The C's were able to dig deep and pull one out against the Mariners affiliate. After playing last night in Tri-City, the Canadians got back to Vancouver at a late hour and one had to wonder how much they would have left in the tank for the first game of this series.
It took a while for Vancouver's bats to get going against Everett lefty Jake Zokan. They could not mess with the Zokan for the first four innings and Zokan was an out away from getting out of the fifth unscathed. However, a Brenden Kalfus double eventually came in to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. The C's busted the game open in the sixth when Andy Fermin and Mitch Nay started the inning with back-to-back singles and L.B. (Little Brad) Dantzler banged a double off the wall in right field to score Fermin. Zokan was pulled after giving an intentional pass to Justin Atkinson. Lefty Tyler Wright came in for Everett and walked Michael Reeves to score Nay before Kalfus delivered the kill shot with a two-run single. Fermin, Nay, Dantzler and Kalfus all had two hits on the night and Fermin also had a walk. Reeves reached twice with a hit and a walk and Dawel Lugo had a base knock. Nay singled in his first at-bat and both of his hits were solid base raps up the middle. His lone strikeout came after fouling off a few 3-2 pitches. Fermin and Nay seemed to be the only ones to make solid contact against Zokan in the early going. I don't believe he threw harder than 87 mph and his breaking stuff had the Vancouver bats bamboozled until the sixth.
Tom Robson got the start for Vancouver and he had to battle his way out of the first inning after giving up two singles and throwing a wild pitch to keep the AquaSox off the board. The Ladner, BC native retired the side in order in the second on three ground balls before surrendering a leadoff single in the third. That runner was erased by his battery mate Reeves, who threw out the runner trying to steal second. Robson got the next two hitters to end the frame but ran into trouble in the fourth. Everett used a leadoff walk and two singles to score the first run of the series. With runners at second and third, Robson induced a tapper back to the mound for the second out and Dantzler made a leaping catch to snare a liner at first to keep the damage down to a single run. Robson would strike out the next two hitters and end the night with a three-up, three-down inning. He was charged with one run on five hits and a walk while collecting 4 K's. He was averaging around 91-92 mph but did reach 95 at one point. Lefthander Matt Dermody (1-0) struck out four and walked only one in two innings. Garrett Pickens walked a batter but struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Chuck Ghysels overcame a hit and a walk to finish the game in the ninth.
Boxscores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Andy Fermin, Vancouver
2. Matt Dermody, Vancouver
1. L.B. Dantzler, Vancouver
Wednesday's Probable Starters...
Dunedin — Aaron Sanchez (4-5, 3.34) vs. Daytona, 6:30 pm ET.
Vancouver — Jeremy Gabryszwski (5-2, 2.82) @ Everett, 10:05 pm ET.
Daytona 6 Dunedin 1
Daytona Beach, FL — The D-Jays hope some home cooking will help them get back in this series. Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-1) went five innings and two batters against the Cubs, surrendering three runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out three and seven of his eight outs in play were on the ground. Lefthander Tony Davis walked the only hitter he faced and was charged with a run. Wil Browning got an out but received an unearned run. He walked one and struck out one. Lefty John Anderson permitted all three inherited runners to cross the plate and gave up an unearned run over 2 2/3 innings. The damage was done on two hits and a walk but Anderson did strike out four. Errors by Jon Berti at second and Matt Newman in left contributed to the unearned markers.
The Jays were one out away from being shutout before Gustavo Pierre came up with an RBI single. Derrick Chung had two hits and was hit by a pitch. Jonathan Jones had a double and a single. Marcus Knecht and Jorge Flores had base knocks. Berti walked once and Newman stole a base despite going 0-for-4. Mike Crouse had a hat trick to lowlight an 0-for-4 night at the plate.
Vancouver 5 Everett 1
Mitch Nay singles in his first plate appearance in Vancouver. Nay was called up from Bluefield along with pitchers Chase DeJong, Brady Dragmire and Jairo Labourt.
Vancouver, BC — The C's were able to dig deep and pull one out against the Mariners affiliate. After playing last night in Tri-City, the Canadians got back to Vancouver at a late hour and one had to wonder how much they would have left in the tank for the first game of this series.It took a while for Vancouver's bats to get going against Everett lefty Jake Zokan. They could not mess with the Zokan for the first four innings and Zokan was an out away from getting out of the fifth unscathed. However, a Brenden Kalfus double eventually came in to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. The C's busted the game open in the sixth when Andy Fermin and Mitch Nay started the inning with back-to-back singles and L.B. (Little Brad) Dantzler banged a double off the wall in right field to score Fermin. Zokan was pulled after giving an intentional pass to Justin Atkinson. Lefty Tyler Wright came in for Everett and walked Michael Reeves to score Nay before Kalfus delivered the kill shot with a two-run single. Fermin, Nay, Dantzler and Kalfus all had two hits on the night and Fermin also had a walk. Reeves reached twice with a hit and a walk and Dawel Lugo had a base knock. Nay singled in his first at-bat and both of his hits were solid base raps up the middle. His lone strikeout came after fouling off a few 3-2 pitches. Fermin and Nay seemed to be the only ones to make solid contact against Zokan in the early going. I don't believe he threw harder than 87 mph and his breaking stuff had the Vancouver bats bamboozled until the sixth.
Tom Robson got the start for Vancouver and he had to battle his way out of the first inning after giving up two singles and throwing a wild pitch to keep the AquaSox off the board. The Ladner, BC native retired the side in order in the second on three ground balls before surrendering a leadoff single in the third. That runner was erased by his battery mate Reeves, who threw out the runner trying to steal second. Robson got the next two hitters to end the frame but ran into trouble in the fourth. Everett used a leadoff walk and two singles to score the first run of the series. With runners at second and third, Robson induced a tapper back to the mound for the second out and Dantzler made a leaping catch to snare a liner at first to keep the damage down to a single run. Robson would strike out the next two hitters and end the night with a three-up, three-down inning. He was charged with one run on five hits and a walk while collecting 4 K's. He was averaging around 91-92 mph but did reach 95 at one point. Lefthander Matt Dermody (1-0) struck out four and walked only one in two innings. Garrett Pickens walked a batter but struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Chuck Ghysels overcame a hit and a walk to finish the game in the ninth.
Boxscores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Andy Fermin, Vancouver
2. Matt Dermody, Vancouver
1. L.B. Dantzler, Vancouver
Wednesday's Probable Starters...
Dunedin — Aaron Sanchez (4-5, 3.34) vs. Daytona, 6:30 pm ET.
Vancouver — Jeremy Gabryszwski (5-2, 2.82) @ Everett, 10:05 pm ET.