Brewer Joins Indians At Right Time
Desperate for pitching help, the Spokane Indians Friday welcomed Ryan Brewer from the Texas-Louisiana League.
Brewer (1-0) paid immediate dividends, retiring the final eight batters of the game as Spokane surprised Boise 7-5 in the Northwest League.
Spokane (8-16) had lost 15 of its previous 19 games while Boise (20-4) had won 14 of 15.
Yet Brewer, who has toiled this summer for the Lubbock (Texas) Crickets, knew nothing about expectations. He pitched the final five innings, struck out six and had just one bad inning.
Boise scored three in the sixth against Brewer to pull within 6-5. The rally brought up memories of Thursday’s 7-6 loss to Yakima that Spokane also led 6-2.
This time, however, the Indians held firm and added insurance in the eighth, when Carlos Beltran scored on an attempted suicide squeeze that ended with the pitch in the dirt.
Spokane broke from a 2-2 tie with a four-run fifth off Boise starter Keith Volman (2-2) and Eric Plooy. Kit Pellow and Brandon Berger had RBI singles, and each scored on Plooy’s wild pitches.
The Indians are 2-9 in July.
Enrique Calero (0-1) of Spokane is set to start on the mound tonight against Boise’s Jeremy Blevins (1-1).
Indians 7, Hawks 5
Spokane Boise ab r h bi ab r h bi Giambi rf 3 1 1 1 Drrngtn 2b 5 0 1 1 Didion 3b 5 0 0 0 Abbott ss 5 0 1 0 Pellow 1b 5 1 1 1 Neal lf 2 1 1 0 Berger lf 4 2 3 1 Curtis 1b 4 1 2 1 Beltran cf 4 1 3 0 Jackson dh 4 1 1 2 Mirnda dh 3 0 1 1 Murphy cf 4 0 0 0 Layne ph 1 0 1 0 Rdriguez rf 4 0 1 0 Escamilla c 3 0 0 0 Gillspie 3b 3 2 1 0 Harp 2b 3 1 0 0 Ussery c 3 0 2 1 Taft ss 2 1 0 0 Ferrer ph 1 0 0 0 Totals 33 7 10 4 Totals 35 5 10 5 Spokane 001 140 010 - 7 Boise 110 003 000 - 5 E-Curtis (1), Abbott (10), Plooy (1), Gillespie 3 (5), Rodriguez (5). LOBSpokane 5, Boise 6. DP-Boise 4. 2B-Curtis (11), Ussery (1), Gillespie (5), Giambi (6). HR-Jackson (2). SB-Ussery (1), Beltran (2), Giambi (7). CS-Miranda (1), Rodriguez (2). S-Taft, Harp.
Spokane IP H R ER BB SO Mullen 4 4 2 2 3 6 Brwer, W,1-0 5 6 3 3 0 6 Boise IP H R ER BB SO Vlkmn, L, 2-2 4-1/3 6 5 3 4 0 Plooy 3 3 2 1 0 0 Cowsill 1-2/3 1 0 0 0 1 WP-Plooy 2. PB-Escamilla.
T-2:42. A-4,885.