Bears show uncommon grit by cooling off Indians
It’s hard to image there was an 18-game difference between the Spokane Indians and Yakima Bears heading into Thursday night’s Northwest League baseball game at Avista Stadium.
The hapless – as in a league-worst 15-28 record – Bears used timely hitting and solid pitching to put a 5-1 dent in the armor of the Indians (32-11), who played the field like a last-place team.
“I think it was just a bad night,” Spokane manager Tim Hulett said. “We’ve done a good job all year, whether we won five in a row or haven’t won five in a row, of coming in and preparing, playing that one game. We had a day off after a day game, traveling. Not to make excuses. I guess we expect to win every night.”
That’s what happens when a team enters the game with a .762 winning percentage for the hottest start in their 104-year history of baseball.
The game started like it would be more of the same for Spokane, which had a 7-2 record against Yakima.
A Spokane error sandwiched between a pair of walks loaded the bases in the top of the first with one out. But the Indians escaped with a double play when Ramon Castillo flew out to right and Jared Bolden gunned down Justin Parker at the plate.
In the second, Bolden led off with a single and Joey Butler followed with a sun-aided triple to left field to put the Indians up 1-0. That, however, proved to be the only highlights for the crowd of 5,087 that otherwise enjoyed a lovely evening.
Yakima tied the game in the fourth as Andrew Fie doubled with one out and Gerardo Bustamante hit a two-out double that ticked off Bolden’s glove in right-center. In the fifth, Parker drew a one-out walk off Spokane starter Richard Bleier, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Alfredo Marte’s groundout.
That was plenty for Ian Harrington, a 23rd-round draft choice out of the University of Hawaii and Kentridge (Wash.) High School. The second-year Bears player went six innings, allowing four hits to pick up just his second win in six decisions despite a 3.44 earned-run average.
“I just came out and tried to throw strikes early,” Harrington said. “Spokane has one of best lineups we’ll face all year. To beat them you have to work ahead early. Tonight I did a better job of working ahead and keeping (the ball) in on them than I did last time.”
By the time he left, the Bears had a 3-1 lead because Spokane reliever Juan Peralta gave up a leadoff single to Castillo, a .184 hitter, to start the sixth, and then had three walks.
Meanwhile, the Indians couldn’t get a clutch hit, stranding eight base runners.
“They played well tonight,” Hulett said of Yakima. “Every night is a new night. Baseball is a funny game. But we didn’t play well, we didn’t execute at lot of things. We need to do a better job.”
That included fielding, magnified in the ninth with Parker got a triple followed by a Marte double, both the result of Mike Bianucci misplaying the ball. Ryan Babineau iced it with a single to right.
The Bears aren’t going to catch the Indians with the next two nights bringing an end to the season series, but they don’t plan to roll over.
“We’ve been in a little bit of a skid as of late,” Harrington said. “I don’t know what to attribute that to, but we’re trying to take the second half of the season and turn it around.”
Notes
Yakima started the game with five players hitting less than .200 and finished with six. Five of the Bears’ eight hits came from players batting less than .200. … No Spokane player had more than one hit. … The series resumes at 6:15 tonight and concludes Saturday. … Spokane’s East Division lead over Boise is five games and the teams don’t play the first of their 12 games against each other until Aug. 11.