Spokane Indians shut out by Tri-City, fall to third in North Division

Sometimes, a loss just calls for a hat tip. And on Friday, the Indians were quick to tip their caps to Tri-City starter Nick Margevicius.

The first-year minor leaguer pitched five scoreless innings, fanning three and allowing three hits, to lead the Dust Devils to a 4-0 win in the final of a three-game Northwest League series at Avista Stadium.

Margevicius, who has worked his ERA to 1.50 in 24 innings for Tri-City, retired the side in order through four innings before giving up a double to Clay Middleton in the fifth.

Margevicius changed up speeds quite a bit, switching from his fastball to his change on nearly every batter. But Indians manager Matt Hagen said it was Margevicius’ unexpected curveballs on Friday that quieted their bats.

“He threw his breaking ball more often than he had in the past, according to the scouting report,” Hagen said. “I thought we were going to show better than that. We hit lefties well. But he came out tonight and hats off to him. He pitched better than we hit.”

The loss dropped the Indians (16-14) back to third place in the North division second-half standings, a game behind the Dust Devils and the Vancouver Indians, who are tied at 17-13.

The Dust Devils took the lead right out of the gates. Tri-City’s Robbie Podorsky led with a dribbler to third base on a check swing that came off the handle of his bat.

Podorsky moved to second on Justin Lopez’s infield groundout and then attempted to steal third. Indians catcher Clay Middleton threw down to third baseman Kole Enright, but Enright missed the catch and Podorsky trotted home for Tri-City’s one-run lead.

Enright’s error was his 13th of the season, the most on the team.

The Dust Devils extended their lead to 2-0 in the eighth inning. Kelvin Melean reached first on a fielder’s choice, stole second and ran home following Luis Asuncion’s line drive to center field.

Tri-City rallied again in the ninth, beginning with back-to-back singles by Bryant Aragon and Josh Magee. Aragon moved to third following Magee’s short line drive right field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Podorsky.

Magee stole third on a pass ball and added Tri-City’s final run of the night on a wild pitch by Indians relief pitcher Samir Vivas.

“It was a little sloppy tonight,” Hagen said. “If you lose your focus for a second, it will bit you. And it got us tonight.”

Magee went 2 for 4 to lead the Dust Devils.

Spokane’s Chris Seise, the Rangers’ No. 1 pick from this year’s amateur draft, also went 2 for 4 Friday, including a double. Curtis Terry followed with a pair of hits in three at-bats for the Indians.

Indians newcomer Pedro Gonzalez, who was acquired from the Colorado Rockies by the Rangers as the player to be named in the Jonathan Lucroy trade last month, failed to reach base all night. He had his second straight 0 for 4 night following his Indians debut Thursday.

Three other Indians pulled the same numbers at the plate Friday, including clean-up hitter Austin O’Banion.

After going just one-third of an inning in his last start for the Indians, right-handed pitcher Demarcus Evans (0-2) last five innings against the Dust Devils. Evans, Firday’s hard-luck loser, left the field with six strikeouts, three walks and only two hits.

“After my last start, I was just focusing on throwing strikes,” Evans said. “My curveball was going better than my fastball today, so I just kept throwing that.”

The Indians head to Salem-Keizer Saturday to take on the Volcanoes in the first of a five-game series at 6:35 p.m.