Indians let five-run lead slip away in loss to Salem-Keizer

KEIZER, Oregon – Ricardo Genoves drove in the go-ahead run with a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat the Spokane Indians 9-6 in the rubber game of a five-game Northwest League series on Monday night.

The Indians closed out the first half of the season on a three-game skid and finished with a 16-22 record, including 4-15 on the road.

Home runs off the bats of Starling Joseph, Tanner Gardner and Francisco Ventura helped the Indians grab a 5-0 lead after three innings.

Wander Franco’s three-run double helped pull Salem-Keizer within a run in the fourth and Dalton Combs run-scoring single in the fifth evened the score. A four-run eighth inning wrapped up the victory for the Volcanoes (20-18).

Jake Latz started for Spokane and allowed five runs, four earned, in five innings. Werner Leal (1-3) was tagged with the loss in relief.