Perez Wows, C's Win Saturday Duel With Hops

#11 Blue Jays prospect Fernando Perez goes seven to lead Vancouver to 2-1 victory

(Mark Steffens - Fotoguy Photography)

By Tyler Zickel

August 10, 2025

VANCOUVER, BC – A career night from starter Fernando Perez and a late inning blunder from the Hillsboro Hops [AZ] keyed a 2-1 Canadians win Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at The Nat. With the game tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, a one-out infield

VANCOUVER, BC – A career night from starter Fernando Perez and a late inning blunder from the Hillsboro Hops [AZ] keyed a 2-1 Canadians win Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at The Nat.

With the game tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, a one-out infield single from Eddie Micheletti Jr. got the go-ahead rally started. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Micheletti Jr. was lifted for pinch runner Jay Harry, who scampered to third on a groundout. Following a pitching change, top Blue Jays prospect Arjun Nimmala worked a crucial two-out walk to prolong the inning. Up stepped Carter Cunningham, who fell behind flamethrower Sam Knowlton 0-2. He then bounced a routine ground ball to second baseman Jansel Luis, who muffed the two-hopper and couldn’t recover in time as the go-ahead run streaked home to make it 2-1 C’s.

Yondrei Rojas (S, 4) retired the side in order in the ninth to secure Vancouver’s victory.

MLB Pipeline’s #11 Blue Jays prospect Fernando Perez – the reigning Northwest League Pitcher of the Week – continued his second half dominance with his longest outing as a pro. The Rivas, Nicaragua native was perfect through two and two-thirds and did not allow a hit until consecutive singles in the fourth. One of those baserunners scored on a double play that Perez started after fielding a hot smash back to the mound; he would limit the damage to one run in that inning before finishing his night by facing one batter over the minimum over the next three frames. His final line: 7.0 IP / 3 H / 1 R / 0 BB / 8 K. He hasn’t issued a walk in 27 consecutive innings.

Aaron Munson (W, 3-2) followed in the eighth for his first outing in nearly three weeks and stranded a single and a walk on base to keep the game tied at one.

Vancouver started the scoring in the bottom of the second. Cunningham worked a one-out walk, went to second on an error than raced home to score on an Edward Duran single that put the Canadians in front 1-0.

The series wraps up tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m.