Indians win again
The Spokane Indians put together a nice work week.
Spokane continued to pitch, hit and defend efficiently, pounding the Boise Hawks 7-2 in front of an announced crowd of 6,863 Friday at Avista Stadium.
The Indians (34-33) stretched their winning streak to five, all against the Hawks after dropping the series opener Sunday. Spokane, which visits Yakima today to begin a three-game set, needs one more win to equal its season-long winning streak.
“We’ve been playing well,” Indians manager Tim Hulett said. “It’s nice to see the guys continue to focus.”
Spokane’s Matt Thompson, the losing pitcher in the series opener, escaped early trouble to go five innings while allowing one run. He evened his record at 4-4.
“He didn’t have his best stuff early,” Hulett said. “He had a nice fifth inning and you could tell he was feeling it, but he was just out of bullets by then. He’d thrown a lot of pitches.”
Spokane’s first four runs came on two-out, two-run doubles. With two outs in the first, Miguel Velazquez and Jason Ogata drew back-to-back walks and scored on Jared Prince’s double into the left-field corner.
Boise cut Spokane’s lead in half in the second on Jae-Hoon Ha’s no-doubt home run, but Thompson avoided further damage. With the bases loaded, Thompson got Logan Watkins, a .343 hitter, on an inning-ending pop out.
The Hawks had runners on first and second with no outs in the third inning, but a fielder’s choice, Prince’s fine diving catch in left and a strikeout ended the threat.
“That’s a momentum swing if he doesn’t make that catch,” Hulett said.
Danny Lima’s two-out double to right knocked in Velazquez and Prince in the third, boosting Spokane’s lead to 4-1.
“If you don’t get those two-out hits, the game is totally different,” Hulett said. “We’ve had other games where we put guys on base all the time and we didn’t get those two-out hits.”
Ogata belted a two-run homer to left in the fifth,
Boise (30-37) threatened to get back in the game in the seventh. Trailing 6-1, the Hawks had one run in and two runners on base when Bobby Wagner crushed a long drive to right, but the ball drifted foul. He struck out looking two pitches later.
Velazquez had a big night, going 2 for 2 with two walks, four runs scored and his 10th homer of the season.
The Indians are hot, but Tri-City is hotter as the season winds down. The Dust Devils won their seventh straight Friday and lead the East Division by seven games.
Asked if he wouldn’t mind seeing the season extended, Velazquez smiled and said, “Maybe like 20 games more.”
Notes
After Thursday’s game, Ogata reached the required minimum of 2.7 at bats per game to be listed in league statistics. He ranks first in batting average at .389. Yakima’s Ryan Wheeler is next at .363. … Former Indian Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 4 with a double, RBI and run scored in his debut with Bakersfield on Thursday. … Spokane is 18-8 in August. … Indians pitcher Robbie Ross struck out five Thursday to move into first place in the NWL with 73.