Under the C’s – Alex De Jesus goes Yard twice in huge 9-1 Vancouver win

The False Creek Monster.  The Science World Slugger.  The Arbutus Assassin.  We’re gonna need some nicknames for Alex De Jesus.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Under the C’s, where we take you out to Vancouver to look at some of the brightest High-A prospects in the Blue Jays system, while also taking you around one of the city’s favourite spots, Nat Bailey Stadium. 

Tuesday night at The Nat saw the start of a six-game home stand for the Canadians, as they hosted the Hillsboro Hops in the first matchup of the weeks-long series. A slight rain delay saw the game’s first pitch pushed back by about 20 minutes, but a lively crowd of 4700+ at The Nat were happy to see the game begin at 7:25 Vancouver time, and the crowd wasn’t forced to wait very long to really get into it.

The bottom of the second inning would be the first time that former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect and current Jays hopeful Alex De Jesus would have the opportunity to step up to the plate, crushing a shot deep to left field into the Nutrl Zone for his sixth bomb of the year, and first of the month of June, to give the home team a 1-0 lead.

Two innings later, with second baseman Cade Doughty already on base, De Jesus would step back into the batter’s box, and drill a double to the wall at centre field, giving Doughty the chance to score, and his Canadians a 2-0 lead.

Two batters later, Lucky #13 on the prospect ladder, Josh Kasevich, would crank a three-run drive off Hops pitcher Avery Short out to centre field to extend the Vancouver lead to 5-0 over Hillsboro after the fourth inning. Kasevich would finish the night going 1-for-4.

Jump to the fifth, and another chance for The South Cambie Crusher, Alex De Jesus. At this point, chants of “27” were breaking out from kids in the sections behind home plate, in support of De Jesus.  In his third at-bat of the evening, Alex demolished a single run drive over top of the Nutrl Zone and into the parking lot, to the delight of everyone at The Nat.  De Jesus finished the night 3-3, with two Home Runs, a double, and a pair of walks for 3 RBIs.

Alex De Jesus and the Vancouver Canadians continue their six-game series with the Hillsboro Hops at Nat Bailey on Wednesday night.