Indians rebound from early deficit

The Spokane Indians got down, but they didn’t stay down.

The Indians twice climbed out of deficits behind the run-producing bats of Jason Ogata and Tommy Mendonca and rolled past Boise 14-5 in front of 3,416 Monday night at Avista Stadium.

Spokane (30-33) racked up 18 hits to snap a two-game skid and move into a tie for second place with Boise in the Northwest League’s East Division.

“We’ve been swinging the bats OK, but not like tonight,” Spokane manager Tim Hulett said. “Tonight was a big night for us. To get that two-run homer (by Mendonca) in the first – that was a big hit for us.”

Monday’s contest featured Spokane’s Braden Tullis and Boise’s Robert Hernandez, both of whom rank in the top seven in the NWL in earned-run average. They faced off five days ago in Boise, with Hernandez getting the win in a 1-0 decision.

Both pitchers struggled at the outset. Boise jumped in front 3-0 in the first on Greg Rohan’s RBI double and Bobby Wagner’s run-scoring single.

In the bottom of the first, Spokane’s Miguel Velazquez drew a two-out walk and swiped second, one of the team’s three stolen bases. He scored on Ogata’s single and Mendonca followed with a long home run to right, forcing a concerned driver to relocate a truck that was near the spot where Mendonca’s blast landed.

“He had to throw a strike. It was 2-0 (in the count) and I just got lucky enough to hit it,” Mendonca said. “They scored three, but we weren’t in panic mode.”

The Hawks broke the tie in the fifth when Rohan hit his second RBI double, but Spokane wasted no time responding in the bottom of the inning. Edward Martinez and Velazquez opened with singles and moved up a base on reliever Yohan Gonzalez’s wild pitch. Both runners scored on Ogata’s single to center. Mendonca’s double to right brought in Ogata to give Spokane a 6-4 lead.

Spokane added another run in the sixth when Denny Duron singled, stole second and scored on Velazquez’s double off the base of the fence in center.

The hits kept coming for the Indians, who tacked up two more runs in the seventh on run-scoring doubles by Jared Prince and Alberto Puello.

“We had a few guys in early hitting and everyone else was in the cage,” Mendonca said. “We’re grinding down to the end of the season so we have to polish stuff up if it isn’t feeling right.”

Mendonca drove in his fourth run and Joe Bonadonna’s three-run triple highlighted a five-run eighth.

Tullis earned his third win of the season. Relievers Johnny Gunter, Justin King and Chris Matlock limited the Hawks to one run over the last four innings, assisted by several nice defensive plays.

“Joey Bonadonna’s only played a couple of games in the outfield for us, although he played it in college, and he nearly made an outstanding play against the wall,” Hulett said. “We played some solid defense.”

Notes

Outfielder Aja Barto (.263 avg., seven HRs, 27 RBI) and pitcher Andrew Doyle (2-0, 1.89 ERA) were promoted Monday to the Hickory Crawdads, where they were reunited with catcher Vinnie DiFazio, who joined the Crawdads last week. Barto went 0 for 2 in his Crawdads debut Monday. … Mendonca’s ninth homer tied Velazquez for the team lead. … Every Indian had at least one hit and seven had at least two hits.