Ogata leads hit parade

Even after going 5 for 5, the hits just kept on coming for Jason Ogata.

Alas, the last was a direct hit – in the kisser – with a shaving cream pie, courtesy of teammate Justin Pickett.

But however much of the soap got in his eyes, the sting was minor on a night when the Spokane second baseman raised his batting average a mere 85 points – from a sickly .186 to .271 – and spurred the Indians to a 6-4 victory over the Eugene Emeralds at Avista Stadium.

“When you’re in a groove, the game slows down,” said Ogata, a 21-year-old from Portland and the Texas Rangers’ 38th-round draft pick out of Oregon State. “The ball slows down and …”

It was at that point that Pickett’s prank pie found its target, so Ogata’s explanation had to slow down, too. After he was so rudely interrupted, he tried to shrug off the evening feat.

“Hitting is hitting,” he said. “I started off slow this year, but I knew it would come. It’s just that sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t, and today was one of those days were everything fell.”

Everything was a single, too, but he had an array – including a bunt that he beat out in the third inning and a high chopper over Eugene third baseman Robbie Blauer that launched a go-ahead two-run rally in the fifth. But it was his bases-loaded shot up the middle in the sixth that broke open a one-run game – and gave the Indians a cushion they would need later.

“I was trying to be patient because I knew he was going to have to come after me with the bases loaded,” Ogata said, “and then he threw me a couple of balls so I was just looking for something to drive and got a fastball out over the plate.”

The Indians and Ems showed why they’re the top two hitting teams in the Northwest League, combing for 27 hits – Spokane’s 15 equaling a season high. But the Emeralds were a dreadful 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Spokane had some early hiccups in that department, too, though manager Tim Hulett noted that “most of our rallies were starting with two out.

“Later in the game, we started getting the first guy on and we were able to do a few things – hit and run and steal, putting some pressure on them. And then we’d get the big hit.”

It was a 1-1 game in the fifth when Ogata chopped his one-out single against Eugene starter Pablo Menchaca (0-1), stole second and took third on a passed ball. NWL batting leader Joey Butler – who struck out an uncharacteristic three times – then slashed an RBI single through the box that gave Spokane the lead for good, and Jared Bolden followed with an RBI double off the wall in left center.

It might have been bigger than a two-run inning, but Bolden got caught off third base on a hard comebacker to Menchaca by Pickett, and then Pickett was thrown out trying to score from second on Eric Fry’s single to right.

But the Indians got three more in the sixth, Ogata’s sharp single the big hit after catcher Doug Hogan – another Spokane hitter gathering himself after a slow start – opened the inning with his second hit of the night, a long double down the left-field line.

The Emeralds weren’t going to go quietly, however. Jeudy Valdez cracked a solo home run with one out in the eighth – Eugene’s second, Sawyer Carroll clearing the wall in center in the second. Then Spokane reliever Corey Young generated more drama in the ninth – striking out Carroll to start the inning, but sandwiching a pair of walks around Angel Mercado’s double to load the bases. A passed ball by Hogan then scored a run and moved the tying runs into scoring position.

But Young then struck out both Dean Anna and Valdez to end the game.

“We get that first out pretty quick,” said Hogan, “and you think it’s going to be an easy inning. But nothing seems easy this year.”

Nonetheless, the Indians moved two games ahead in the NWL’s East Division, Tri-City dropping a 12-5 decision to Salem-Keizer. Spokane has now won five of six meetings with the Emeralds this season.

Notes

Ryan Schlecht (1-1) got the victory for Spokane, giving up a run in three innings of relief. Starter Martin Perez worked four innings. …. Three former Spokane Indians were in the Eugene dugout, including 2006 manager Greg Riddoch, in his second year back in Eugene. Former Indians outfielder Darrell Sherman from the 1989 championship team is the Ems batting coach, and former Kansas City Royals manager Tony Muser – a first baseman for Spokane’s Triple-A Milwaukee affiliate in 1978 – is the roving hitting instructor for the San Diego Padres. … Tonight’s 6:30 rematch will be followed by the annual July 4 fireworks show, this year presented by Comcast.