Down 14-13, Indians Had Nothing Left Yakima Eases Past Spokane In Slugfest Decided By Balls Hit To The Same Sector

Just your typical 14-13 baseball game at Seafirst Stadium Monday turned on three balls hit to left field.

The one hit farthest to left amounted to a long out and the end of a rally.

The one that traveled second-farthest did some damage, but not as much as the Spokane Indians hoped.

The one that barely made it to left field provided the go-ahead run in Yakima’s Northwest League decision over the Indians.

“It was very tiring but well worth it,” Yakima left fielder Cash Riley said after a game that nearly reached the four-hour mark. “Early in this week (three consecutive losses to Spokane), we were struggling.”

The Life of Riley was scary indeed in the bottom of the eighth inning, after the Bears (20-40) had scored three runs off Ken Fitzpatrick (0-1) to take a 14-11 lead.

The 12th run had come when Willie King blooped a two-out single to left to score Wynter Phoenix. Ricky Bell followed with a two-run homer to left, the second in 208 at-bats for the shortstop.

Spokane’s Goefrey Tomlinson and Joe Caruso opened the eighth with singles off Darin Schmalz (3-1). Yakima manager Joe Vavra summoned left-hander Mike Rawls to face Dermal Brown, the Indians’ left-handed hitting Triple Crown candidate.

Brown worked the count to 3-2 before lining a shot to left-center. Riley, over in time, reached up and had the ball glance off his mitt. Both baserunners scored and Brown pulled up at third base.

“I just messed up,” Riley said. “It was a hard-hit line drive that should have been caught.”

The meat of Spokane’s order, however, couldn’t bring Brown home. Clean-up hitter Juan LeBron fouled out to first base, Doug Blosser struck out on three pitches and Mike Brambilla … Well, Brambilla hit a towering shot to left that left Riley wondering if it would stay in the park. At the wall, he jumped and caught the drive off the boards.

“It was a pretty tough play,” Riley said.

Spokane (35-25), which had won five straight, had a chance off Rawls in the ninth after Rico Montas led off with a walk. But Montas was out at second on Jeremy Hill’s grounder, and Hill was caught in a rundown when he tried to take second on an errant relay throw that didn’t roll far away from first.

The Indians lost ground to North Division-leading Boise (40-20), which beat Salem-Keizer 3-1. Spokane trails Boise by five games with 16 left to play.

Kimani Newton went 4 for 6 for Yakima, which had lost four straight. Riley was 3 for 3, with two RBIs, and reached base all five times.

Tomlinson and LeBron had three hits apiece. Caruso hit his fifth homer, Blosser his ninth. Blosser, with three RBIs, has nine in his last two games.

, DataTimes