Expos Back on Track With Sunday's Sweep of Kamloops; Scorching Sun Provides Difficulty For Both Teams in Game 2 of the Double Header

The Vancouver Minor Expos are back above the qualification line after a much needed double header sweep of the tired Kamloops River Dogs, 7-0 and 8-5. In the first game, the boys showed up to play, put up some runs late in the ball game and rode the back of Domingo who was absolutely stellar in the start. The back half of the double header proved that the true winner was the "sun" and the blazing heat had players tired, drained and unable to play at their full capacity, it was Vancouver Minor who made fewer mistakes in the end resulting in an ugly 8-5 victory.

EXPOS 7 Kamloops 0

Half of the players stayed the night, the other half drove up the day of but it didn't matter because all players came ready to play in the first game most notably Domingo and Suarez. The two members from Canada's 2014 Little League World Series team were a battery keeping Kamloops hitters off balance all day, Domingo had full command of a couple pitches and full confidence that Suarez would block everything behind that plate. The former South Van Little Leaguer retired his last 12 batters in a row with 4 strikeouts in a row at one point; the only blemish was a bloop single into left field. Final line, Domingo (and Suarez) with a well-deserved 1-hit complete game shutout racking up 11Ks.

In the 2nd inning with 1 out and down 0-2 in the count, Antiporda hit a double that one-hopped to the fence and would eventually score to plate the first run of the game. The offense was lively and spread out for the Expos as all players but one (minimum 1 plate appearance) were credited with at least one base hit today. Yamamoto with 3 hits, Hutchings and Antiporda both with 2 hits.

Kamloops 5 EXPOS 8

The back end of the double header was a different story for the Expos and same story for Kamloops. While Kamloops continued to kick the ball around in the field, Vancouver stooped to their level as it seemed that the blazing 37 degree heat was proving to be too much for Vancouver. Although the plan was to go with Horino for at least 3 innings, the scorching sun had Yam deploy a pitch by committee as five Vancouver players saw mound action only Hutchings pitching more than 2 innings. Horino just didn't have his best "stuff" today as Kamloops jumped on the board early in their first at-bats. The 2nd inning saw Inomata relieve Horino after just 1.67 innings, Inomata also looked drained as he managed to get the only batter he faced to pop up and that was the end for him. Ironically, Inomata would be credited with the win after pitching just a third of an inning as the Expos would tack on 3 runs in the bottom half of the 2nd inning. Again, pass balls by the Kamloops catcher provided Vancouver with the opportunity to score runs, team at-bats plated a couple runs as Vancovuer would be up 3-1 after 2 innings. Howse and Hutchings would follow Inomata on the mound both picking up holds while Fukuda induced a 4-6-3 game ending double play to pick up the first save of his young career.

Antiporda was the only Vancouver player with a multi-hit game, he also went 2/2 with runners in scoring position. The Expos today stole a combined 13 bags without getting thrown out once and were very smart on the basepaths.

It was a much needed two wins in Kamloops as the Expos next 7 games are against teams right in the middle pack of the standings. These next 7 games will make or break Vancouver deciding if they will clinch a berth into provincials or have to compete in the dreaded wild card tournament. The Expos are excited and motivated for these string of games, and it all kicks off Wednesday against Tri City (6pm @ Nanaimo Park) as the Expos will look to exact revenge on the Indians who just over a week ago came out victorious over them 3-2.