Tuesday marked the start of the Northwest League Championship Series.
Unfortunately for the Vancouver Canadians, it didn’t go great as they fell 4-3 in Game 1 of the best-of-five series. Moreover, both the Buffalo Bisons and New Hampshire Fisher Cats fell in their games.
Let’s dig into all of that in the latest Minor League Report!
Vancouver are down 1-0 in the best of five series
For the third consecutive season, the Vancouver Canadians earned a trip to the Northwest League Championship Series, where they’re taking on Spokane. Tuesday was the first game of the series, with the Canadians losing 4-3.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth, the game was tied with no runs. That changed as the Canadians took a 2-0 lead, with Jay Harry and Brennan Orf each hitting a single to lead off the inning. Catcher Jacob Sharp hit a sac fly to score Harry, while Adrian Pinto later drove in Orf to give the Canadians a 2-0 lead.
However, Spokane tied it the next half inning, as Andy Perez hit a single and GJ Hill hit a two-run home run to knot the game up at two. Once again, there was more scoring in the next half inning, as Jay Harry hit a home run to give Vancouver a 3-2 lead.
Jay Harry homers and the C’s take the lead!#AtTheNat pic.twitter.com/KtP5xqs1hW
— Vancouver Canadians (@vancanadians) September 11, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The score held that way until the top of the seventh, as Bryant Betancourt hit a home run to once again tie the game up. In the top of the ninth, Betancourt hit a triple and scored after the next batter hit a single. Sadly, the Canadians were unable to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth despite a lead-off walk to Peyton Williams.
Overall, the Canadians had nine hits in the game. Jay Harry and Brennan Orf each had two hits, while Jace Bohrofen, Adrian Pinto, Peyton Williams, Je’Von Ward, and Jacob Sharp each had a hit. Harry hit a home run, while Sharp hit a double.
As for their pitching, Ryan Watson pitched a strong game, finishing with a line of 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K with two home runs given up. The only other pitcher used by the Canadians was Alex Amalfi, who gave up an earned run in 2.1 innings pitched, striking out four in the process.
Buffalo blown out
Things were going good for the Buffalo Bisons, as they led 1-0 after their half of the second inning. However, six runs came in for the Gwinnett Stripers in the bottom of the sixth, and the Bisons fell 13-2 to bring their second-half record to 26-37.
Bo Bichette is finally back, as he’s on a rehab assignment with the Bisons. In this game, he hit a single and also started the bottom of the second off with an error. Not great. Orelvis Martinez had a good game though, as he hit his 17th double of the season in Triple-A, along with his first triple of the year. Rafael Lantigua also had a multi-hit game, while Josh Kasevich, Jonatan Clase, and Riley Tirotta all hit a single.
Jake Bloss had another rough game, as he gave up seven earned runs (eight total) in three innings pitched, along with two walks and two strikeouts. Luis Quiñones didn’t fare much better, giving up three earned runs in two innings pitched. Andrew Bash pitched a scoreless inning, but Hayden Juenger gave up two runs (one earned) in two innings of work. Braydon Fisher struck out the side in his scoreless inning of work.
New Hampshire has lost five in a row
This week is the final series for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, which is good because it hasn’t been a great season for the Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate. On Tuesday, they fell 8-2 to the Somerset Patriots to extend their losing streak to five games.
Lazaro Estrada had a tough start, as he finished with a line of 3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 8 K with a home run given up to bring his Double-A ERA to 4.47. Kevin Miranada finished with a line of 3.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K with a home run, while Johnathan Lavallee struck out a batter in a clean inning of work.
WIth the bats, all but one of New Hampshire’s five hits was a double. Yohendrick Piñango hit two doubles in the game, while Rainer Nuñez and Dasan Brown each hit a double as well. The other player with a hit was Robert Brooks.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.