The Seattle Mariners avoided being swept by Canada's National Junior Team prospects, Friday, with an 8-3 win in the final game of a two-game set in Villa Mella, Dominican Republic.
Seattle put the game away with a three-run seventh inning sparked by an error, three walks a double and a single that cashed in the Mariners' eighth and final run of the game.
Canada, meanwhile had difficulty finding its form after exhange runs with seattle in the opening frame. Tyson Gillies (Langley, B.C) led of the first inning by drawing a walk, stole second and eventually scored from third after a single from the bat of Brett Lawrie (Langley, B.C.).
Seattle slowly built its lead, scoring one run in the third inning and two runs in the fifth before a solo homerun in the sixth made it 5-0 for the Mariners, setting up the three-run seventh inning that sealed the victory.
Canada's best bid to get back in the game came in the top half of the seventh inning when Chris Dennis (Windsor, Ont.) hit a two-run homerun to right centre to cut the Mariners lead to 5-3.
Shayne Willson (Surrey, B.C.) was the only Canadian to collect more than one hit, going 2-for-4 while Dennis went 1-for-3 with a walk, one run scored and two RBI to lead Canada's offence.
Lawrie was 1-for-3 with an RBI, Mark Ellis (Maple Ridge, B.C.) was 1-for-3 with a run scored and Gillies walked and scored a run to chip in.
Chase Larsson (Vancouver, B.C.), Ricky Alvernaz (White Rock, B.C.) and David Narodowski (Vancouver, B.C.) also collected hits.
Starter Sheldon McDonald (Spruce Grove, Alta.) was tagged with the loss despite throwing three solid innings, giving up only one earned run behind six hits while striking out three.
Mehdi Djebbar (Montréal, Qué.) and Cameron Gray (Toronto, Ont.) gave up three runs each, while Cory Hall (Regina, Sask.) gave up only one hit in three innings of work.
Canada now sets its sights to the Minnesota Twins for an 11 a.m. EST matchup, Saturday, in Boca Chica, D.R.
Canada's schedule
May 25 – Canada 9 Seattle 6
May 26 – Canada 3 Seattle 8
May 27 – Canada vs. Minnesota Twins; 11 a.m. EST - Boca Chica, D.R.
May 28 – Canada vs. Anaheim Angles; 11 a.m. EST - San Pedro de Macoris, D.R.
May 29 – Canada vs. Cleveland Indians; 11 a.m. EST - Boca Chica, D.R.
May 30 – Canada vs. Toronto Blue Jays; 11 a.m. EST - Hato Mayor, D.R.
May 31 – Canada vs. Philadelphia Phillies; 11 a.m. EST - Guanuma, D.R.
