Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»1 - 0 Spokane
Defence — exacting and exciting — won the Canadians their first outing of the North Division pennant series against Spokane on Wednesday night in Vancouver.
Left-handed pitcher Ryan Borucki, a six-foot-four 20-year-old from Illinois, threw seven scoreless innings in the 1-0 win at Nat Bailey Stadium on Sept. 3. He allowed five hits and struck out four batters, lowering his season ERA to 1.68 since joining the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»staff on Aug. 20.
Borucki had the help of his outfielders, who denied Spokane the crucial hit they needed. (In the loss, they left nine runners stranded.)
Jonathan Davis made three highlight-reel catches in left field: first he dove and in midair caught a powerful line drive in the third, then sprinted to glove a high, deep shot in the fifth, and then in the sixth, he retreated all the way to the racing track to watch yet another would-be homer fall short of reaching the Nat Bailey fence. Chris Carlson also made a spectacular catch against the right field wall.
The visitors from Spokane kept Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»off the board through six innings until the bottom of the seventh when Chris Carlson led off with a single, advanced to second on a ground-out and then circled home on an assertive single from Mike Reeves.
On the mound, Michael Kraft replaced Borucki, and Phil Kish came in to close the game.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»didn't secure the best record for the second half of North Division until Sunday's 5-3 win over Spokane, which won the first-half title. The best-of-three series was scheduled to begin Tuesday in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»but was postponed because of heavy rain.
The best-of-three series moves to Spokane for Game 2 at 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4 at Avista Stadium. Chase Mallard will start for Vancouver.
If the C’s eliminate Spokane, they begin their campaign for a fourth consecutive Northwest League Championship at home at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6 against the Hillsboro Hops, who swept the Boise Hawks to win the South Division pennant.
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