Baseball
C’s Welcome Duane Ward
The Vancouver Canadians and 4,833 dye-hard ball fans welcome former Toronto Blue Jay Duane Ward to the Nat on a day were the stands are filled with smiles. Ward was drafted in the 1st round in 82, but the Braves and made his debut April 12/86 as a pitcher.
Following minimal success he was traded to the Blue Jays July 6th for pitcher Doyle Alexander. He eventually became one of the Jay’s middle relievers in 88 and stayed in that role through 92 when the Jay’s won their first World Series Championship.
The C’s are coming off one of the many “noon games” which have become a favourite of many ball fans in the area. They lost by narrow score of 3-2 in front of over 4,000 fans, which set up this game.
This game saw Cole (RHP) give up one run on five hits over six innings of play managing five strike-outs. The C’s hold a one-game lead over second place Eugene; while Salem are 2.5 games back.
This home stand see’s the C’s play host to Everett for a short three game series which see’s the second half pennant race heat up in the short final weeks of the season.
The weather is obviously taking its toll on the park itself only due to the brown spots in the outfield, which are normally pristine. One wonders if there is a watering restriction on the park, put in place by the City.
The Canadians started out with the bats sending 4 runs across the plate, which carried through to the bottom of the 4th, seeing the C’s dominating the game.
Everett started Dylan Unsworth (6’1”) who calls Cape Town South Africa home in the off-season and welcomes the challenge to compete in North America.
He struggled in the first inning and allowed four runs to cross the plate putting the C’s up 4-0.
The C’ started Javier Avendano (6’3”) who seemed to get stronger as the game progressed and through six and a half he has yet to give up a run.
He threw a perfect game while on the mound. The C’s had extra chances to grab a run or two, but nevertheless kept the bats hot!!
Thunder Bay’s Eric Brown came in as a reliever and “stoned” Everett giving them a 5-0 win. This series goes again with the opening pitch at 1:05 pm.