Titans ninth inning surge not enough in series opener

Ottawa, ON –  In a battle between the Frontier League East Division’s top-seeded teams, the Quebec Capitales managed to hold off the Ottawa Titans (35-21) by a 6-4 final on Friday night.

The league’s reigning Pitcher of the Week, Evan Grills (loss, 3-3) tossed a shutout first, striking out a pair. Following a pair of walks to start the bottom half, the Titans’ offence broke through with a sac fly from Jason Dicochea and RBI double from Jake Sanford.

Leading 2-0 in the early going, the Capitales quickly responded in the second with an RBI single from Yordan Manduley and Yoelkis Guibert bringing homer a run on a fielder’s choice to tie the score.

All-Star catcher Jeffry Parra made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the third before the Capitales tagged on three in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Grills plunked Garrett Takamatsu to bring in a run, before another fielder’s choice plated one, then a throwing error made it 6-2.

Jacob Talamante stayed red hot, belting a double to the gap in left-centre to plate Tyrus Greene in the fourth. Trailing by three, right-hander Codie Paiva (win, 5-2) served up a leadoff solo homer to Clay Fisher in the bottom of the fifth.

Trailing by two, Grills settled in over his final three innings of work, as the lefty allowed six runs in his ninth start of the season. Nelson Gonzalez and Matt Valin tossed two shutout innings of the bullpen to keep the Titans within striking distance.

It came to the ninth, where Talamante led off the frame with a walk against closer Samuel Adames (save, 12) to turn the lineup over. After a strikeout, Fisher bounced a single to centre to put the tying run aboard. Adames then got Rodrigo Orozco to line out sharply to third for the second out, as Dicochea kept the game alive with a base hit to left. With the bases loaded and two-away, Adames faced Sanford in a full count. The Dominican right-hander got Sanford to ground out to second to end the game.

After stranding the bases loaded, the series-opening loss to the Capitales sees the Titans drop their third straight ballgame. Fisher and Talamante each had two hit nights, while Sanford finished with three knocks.

The Titans continue their three-game set against the Quebec Capitales tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. at Ottawa Stadium. Following Saturday’s game, the Titans take on the Capitales one more time to wrap up the first half of the season.

For information on Ottawa Titans’ 2022 season tickets, group outings, and 8-game mini packs, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.

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