Vancouver Pitching Stymies Aldergrove Bats; Domingo Leads the Charge in Game 1 Throwing a No-Hitter as Expos Sweep the DH

After having not played a game in 10 days, Vancouver was eager to get back at it knowing they were still in the thick of a provincial berth race. Today's double header featured two teams back to back in the standings, both teams looking to climb their way up in the standings. Domingo was literally unhittable in game 1 as Aldergrove batters were still left scratching their heads after the former South Van Little Leaguer threw a no-hitter, Vancouver scored often and early putting up 6 runs in the first 2 innings en route to a 6-0 victory. In game 2, Aldergrove came out swinging putting up the frist 2 runs of the ballgame; however, the Expos displayed their pitching depth using 4 pitchers to keep the deficit at 2 runs and were able to scratch and claw to eventually take a 4-2 lead, Hutchings locked down the "W" with 3 shutout relief innings.

Aldergrove 0 EXPOS 6

The boys from East Van were excited to play an opposing team after being dormant from game action the past 10 days, the two previous losses to Vancouver Community left a bitter taste in their mouth and they were collectively ready to take it to Aldergrove. The top of the 1st looked like the Dodgers were going to strike first as they were in business, a leadoff walk and a steal had Aldrgrove threatening with 1 out and a runner on 2nd, Domingo induced a groundball to himself, the runner at 2nd advanced to 3rd on the groundout but Hutchings went for the back door and nabbed Simons at 3rd ending the inning and any momentum Aldergrove had. 

The Expos jumped all over arguably Aldergrove's top pitcher, O'Grady as he evidently didn't have his best "stuff" today. A leadoff walk, single and 9 pitch walk by Yamamoto had Vancouver poised to strike first with Hutchings coming up with the bases loaded. A game ago, Hutchings grounded out into an inning ending and momentum killing 4-6-3 double play in the first inning but he didn't let that happen again, with a solid two-strike approach Hutchings drove a shot right back up the middle to plate the first two runs of the game. Antiporda would follow that up with a sac fly and Suarez with a 2-out 2-strike single scoring Hutchings; 4-0 Expos after 1. The bottom of the 2nd inning was the same story for Vancouver as they tacked on two more runs off O'Grady, forcing the manager to go with Masztalazar for the remainder of the game.

Meanwhile, Domingo was firing on all cylinders in this contest able to command 3 pitches effectively and keep Aldergrove batters off balance all day. Getting out of the 1st inning jam helped him settle down, after the leadoff walk he retired the next 14 batters before an error was committed at 3rd base. As you know, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, 2 Aldergrove batters hitting screaming line drives that found the gloves of Hutchings and Yamamoto preserving the no-hitter. In the end, Domingo only allowed 3 runners to reach base (BB, E5, E5), went 7 innings 0 H and 10 Ks, just masterful.

EXPOS 4 Aldergrove 2

It was evident that Aldergrove was not satisfied with the game 1 result, they came out ready to play in game 2 led by starting pitcher, Simons. A 1-2-3 top of the 1st by Simons had Aldergrove ready to strike first against Expos starter, Ellis. A 1 out walk, single and double steal had the Dodgers in prime position to go up 2 and that's exactly what they did as Masztalazar hit a 2-RBI single up the middle, after an inning it was Expos 0 Aldergrove 2. It was evident that Ellis didn't have his best "stuff" today either so Howse came in to relieve and locked it down for 1.33 innings. Vancouver couldn't figure out starter Simons but was helped out when the Aldergrove manager decided to go with a new pitcher after 41 pitches, after Howse locked down the 3rd inning the Expos struck for two runs in the 4th courtesy of a Domingo RBI single and Hutchings bravely scoring from third on a dropped third strike throw to 1st. Horino came in for a brief but effective relief appearance in the 4th as he got his 3 outs paving the way for Hutchings next. Hutchings locked down the 5th easily, setting up the top of the 6th where the Expos would take a two run lead thanks to a huge RBI triple by Hutchings and then later scored on a RBI single by Antiporda. Hutchings again easily locked down the 7th securing the "W" for the Expos.

Vancouver Minor still has a lot of work to do to make top 7 (provincial berth) and the upcoming tests that they'll face will be challenging. Hopefully the two wins here today will have the Expos rolling and feeling confident into their next matchup, the Richmond Chuckers on Monday.