Yakima Turns To Kubenka To Slam Door On Indians Reliever Stops Rally In Ninth, Silences Tribe In 10th For Win
When Jeff Kubenka heard he would be the Yakima Bears’ closer, he didn’t take the news as a compliment.
Halfway through the Northwest League season, however, Kubenka has to be considered the eight-team league’s premier reliever.
Maybe this closing stuff isn’t so bad, after all. With Kubenka stopping a Spokane rally in the ninth and pitching a perfect 10th, Yakima (15-23) edged the Indians 3-2 Friday at sultry Seafirst Stadium.
“Honestly, my initial reaction was that I didn’t know if they put me in there (as a reliever) because they didn’t think I could go nine innings,” said Kubenka, a starter all through college.
No matter.
Kubenka, who leads the league with six saves, earned his third win in four decisions.
The Bears scored the winner in the 10th off Ryan Brewer (2-1), as Steve Wilson played heads-up and stretched a one-out single to left into a double. After a groundout, Bobby Meyer lined an RBI single to center.
Spokane (16-22) thought it had the game won in the ninth, when it loaded the bases with no out. Instead, a pop foul and forceout at home preceded Kubenka’s entrance. Kubenka, a lefty, coaxed left-handed hitter Jason Layne into an inningending grounder to first.
“I’ve always started and completed my games,” said Kubenka, a 38th-round draft selection last month out of St. Mary’s (Texas) University. “But I throw a screwball, and a lot of guys (in the NWL) haven’t seen that so it’s a quick out.
“Actually, it’s easier for me to get out right-handers because the screwball moves away from them.”
Kubenka thought he had let down the team when Kit Pellow led off the 10th with a deep flyout to left that just stayed in the park. The relieved reliever struck out the final two batters.
“Hey, in this position, you’re either the hero or someone everyone frowns at,” Kubenka said.
The same could be said for Yakima first baseman William King, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and tied the game at 1 with a single. King made two errors to open the ninth, putting Spokane runners at first and third. After an intentional walk and pop foul, King cleanly fielded two grounders - one for a forceout at home and the other for an unassisted out at first.
Spokane scored an unearned run in the first off Blake Mayo, whose earned-run average dipped to 0.26 after six sharp innings. Jeremy Giambi doubled to lead off, took third on a passed ball and scored on Carlos Beltran’s grounder. Roman Escamilla’s two-out single in the eighth plated the other Indians run.
The Bears forced extra innings with Damian Rolls’ two-out double to left-center in the ninth.
Spokane’s Scott Mullen (1-2, 4.65) and Yakima’s Jay O’Shaughnessy (0-1, 6.19) are the scheduled starters when the three-game series ends tonight at 7:05.
Notes
Tonight’s featured attraction is the Famous Chicken, the veteran mascot once known as the San Diego Chicken. … Spokane catcher Juan Robles has thrown out 16 of 26 attempted base-stealers. … The parent club San Francisco Giants sent Bellingham manager Ozzie Virgil Sr. to manage in the Dominican Republic summer league. Bellingham hitting coach Shane Turner replaced Virgil.
, DataTimes