Everett Aquasox @ Vancouver Canadians ( ft. Larry Walker !!! ), Aug 13 2013

Tonight is the second time this season that I come to watch the Canadians play. Last time, it was also the Canadians against the Everett Aquasox, during which we get to meet this very nice pitcher from Taiwan, Min-Sih Chen.

Tonight's ceremonial first pitch is thrown out by Mr. Larry Walker, so as you may imagine, a sellout crowd packed the whole stadium in this perfect baseball weather. There's also a meet and greet and signing session going on as well. My friend and I tried to go get the signature right after the first pitch, only to find lineups going outside the stadium and into the parking lot.

Mr. Walker is a really nice guy, I got him to sign the two baseballs, one for myself and one for James. This comes about an hour after that first pitch.

The game was pretty one-sided through 5, with the Aquasox leading 5-0. We went backstage to chat with Chen, and he told us from the score that he probably won't be pitching. He even said maybe we can go home. Good thing we did not.

After 6th it was 5-2, and the Canadians added one more run in the 8th. Then over in the bullpen, we saw No. 19 warming up. Indeed, pitching change was made on bottom of the 9th, with Chen coming up to close out the game.

First pitch is a off-speed at 79mph, and then a series of fastballs got Mike Reeves out swinging. Next up, Brenden Kalfus, was down after 3 pitches. However, the next batter caught Chen's off-speed pitch and took a base hit to the left.

It appears that Chen had trouble communicating with the catcher, as the second pitch to the 4th batter, Ian Parmley, went past the catcher. Later he called the catcher up to talk, then successfully struck out the batter on a 92mph fastball and earned his first save of the season.

After the game, we were told that he didn't think he would be out to close, and his condition was not perfect during warmup. Neverthless, he overcame the pressure of the home crowd and got the job done. ( He told us before that the crowd is crazy here in the Nat Bailey Stadium. )

This baseball was from the last pitch that earned him the save. He was surprised that we were in the stadium too. After this series, probably the only chance Chen will be back in the Nat will be if the Canadians make the playoffs. Well, I guess I'll be back cheering for the Canadians as usual.