 |
 Kyle Orr. |
Mehdi Djebbar got a late look from Team Canada officials.
The Acadamie Baseball Canada right-hander impressed then and he is still impressing.
Djebbar showed plenty of composure and even more strikes as he pitched first four innings and didn't allow an earned run in a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Djebbar allowed three hits, and one walk as he struck out four. Djebbar plays for ABC coach Richard Emond and works with pitching coach Sylvain Saindon.
The Tigers first and second-year pros at extended spring training took a 2-0 lead in the second behind a throwing error and a double steal. Both runs were unearned. The Canucks had five clanks on the day.
Jonathan Waltenbury (Bowmanville, Ont.) hit a one-out double in the fourth and scored on a Shayne Willson (Surrey, BC) single. Willson scooted to third on a botched pick-off attempt and was plated by a Kyle Orr (Victoria, BC) double evening the score at 2-2.
|
The Tigers took took the lead on a three-run homerun off Sean Mattson (Scarborough, Ont.) in the top of the fifth to make it 5-2.
Canada had a chance to get in the game came in the fifth inning when, with one out, Jordan Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.), Chad Stang (Surrey, BC) and David Narodowski (Vancouver, BC) singled to load the bases. Wideman's brother A.J., a lefty, is one of only two Canadians currently playing in the Jays minor-league system.
However Olivier Bertrand, (Ste-Adele, Que.) grounded out into an inning ending double play.
The teams exchanged a more run a piece, with Canada scoring in the sixth and Detroit adding an insurance marker in the seventh.
Waltenbury and Willson were both 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Orr went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
Cory Hall (Regina, Sask.) worked the final two innings alllowing one hit, a walk and striking out three.
Mattson pitched three innings allowing three hits and one walk while striking out three. He was on the mound for five of Detroit's six runs, although only one was earned.