The Class A Short-Season Vancouver Canadians opened their 2013 season on Friday, June 14, when they took on the Tri-City Dust Devils at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, Washington, for the first of a three-game set against the team that they defeated in the 2011 Northwest League final.
In the opening game, the Canadians broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth inning with four runs off Dust Devils RHP Peter Tago, who would problems locating the strike zone the entire evening.
Tago (0-1) walked DH Jordan Leyland to lead off the fourth, and then hit C Daniel Klein with a pitch. With 1B Justin Atkinson at the plate, Tago uncorked two wild pitches, the second of which allowed Leyland to score for the Canadians' first run of 2013. Atkinson (who is from Surrey, B.C.) would go on to single home Klein in that at-bat for a 2-0 Vancouver lead, before the C's added two more runs in the inning on an error by Dust Devils 2B Cesar Galvez and a third wild pitch by Tago.
An inning later, the C's would add four more runs, with the big blow 3B Jason Leblebijian's RBI triple off Tago, which cashed in 2B Jorge Vega-Rosado (who had walked to begin the inning). Tago, a first-round draft pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2010, would allow just two hits in his 4.2 innings of work but was hurt by seven walks. He was charged with seven runs (six earned).
Canadians RHP Eric Brown earned the win by allowing just one run on two hits over five solid innings, and the C's went on to record a 9-5 victory to open the 2013 season.
Following the big opening day victory, the Canadians then dropped back-to-back 4-3 decisions to the Dust Devils on June 15-16. In those two losses, however, there were some highlights for the Canadians. Jordan Leyland was a combined 6-for-7 with a home run in those two contests (getting three hits in each game), and Jason Leblebijian went 3-for-4 with an RBI double and a solo homer in the June 15 defeat.
The starting pitching also came through. LHP Kyle Anderson, who started for Vancouver on June 15, went five innings while allowing only two hits and two runs with one walk and a pair of strikeouts. RHP Jeremy Gabryszwski started the following night and was even better, allowing one run on three hits over six innings without issuing a walk. Gabryszwski was in line for the victory, but alas, the C's bullpen blew his 3-1 lead by allowing three runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning.
Traditionally, the Canadians and Dust Devils had played five-game series as teams from opposing divisions played five-game sets twice a year. However, with the move of the Yakima Bears (from Yakima, Washington) to Hillsboro, Oregon (to become the Hillsboro Hops), the Dust Devils (along with the Spokane Indians) were moved to the Northern Division to join Vancouver and the Everett AquaSox.
Spokane Series, June 17-19, 2013
Following the three-game set in Tri-City, Vancouver returned home to Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium for their first home series of the summer against the Spokane Indians (who like the Dust Devils had moved to the Northern Division in 2013).
Though the Canadians couldn't reward their home crowd with a victory in the opening game--losing 10-1 thanks to an eight-run outburst in the fifth inning by the Indians--Vancouver still won the series by taking the next two games by scores of 5-4 (in 12 innings) and 8-3.
The 5-4 contest on June 18 would propel the Canadians to a five-game winning streak, though in the late innings it seemed Spokane was going to hand Vancouver its fourth straight defeat. The Canadians had taken a 3-0 lead after two innings as SS Jason Leblebijian delivered an RBI single and leadoff man CF Ian Parmley added a two-run single. LHP Colton Turner was outstanding on the mound, tossing six innings of four-hit, one-run ball with five strikeouts, and was in line for the 3-1 victory. However, the Indians rallied in the eighth with two runs to tie the game, and Spokane then went ahead 4-3 in the top of the ninth thanks in part to a two-base error by 2B Jorge Vega-Rosado.
In the bottom of the ninth, Indians reliever Josh McElwee achieved an extremely rare feat in baseball by striking out four batters in the same inning--Vega-Rosado, Justin Atkinson, Nico Taylor, and Ian Parmley--but it was a throwing error by C Marcus Greene on the Taylor strikeout that allowed pinch-runner Ronnie Melendez to score the tying run with two outs (and Taylor to reach first base safely) when the game seemed to be over. Given new life, Vancouver would go on to win the game in the bottom of the 12th on Leblebijian's RBI single, scoring Taylor, to end the 4-hour, 9-minute marathon.
The following afternoon, the Canadians would defeat the Indians 8-3 to win the series, with RHP Eric Brown winning his second game of the season. Brown (2-0) allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts over 6.2 innings, and RF Brenden Kalfus went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. LF Ronnie Melendez contributed a two-run single and finished with three RBIs. The victory allowed the Canadians to improve to 3-3 (.500) after six games.
Jason Leblebijian, batting .333 after five games with a double, triple, home run, and five RBIs, was called up to Single-A Lansing.
In an odd scheduling quirk, the mini three-game set would be the only three games of the Canadians' season-opening homestand. Following the series, the C's were off on an eight-game road trip, taking on the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes for five games in Keizer, Oregon, and then three more against the Indians in Spokane.
Jason Leblebijian, batting .333 after five games with a double, triple, home run, and five RBIs, was called up to Single-A Lansing.
In an odd scheduling quirk, the mini three-game set would be the only three games of the Canadians' season-opening homestand. Following the series, the C's were off on an eight-game road trip, taking on the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes for five games in Keizer, Oregon, and then three more against the Indians in Spokane.
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