Rockies Thump Swinging Indians

It didn’t take long for the Spokane Indians to get into the swing of things when they opened a five-game Northwest League baseball series Sunday night at Portland.

Unfortunately, the Indians were swinging fruitlessly at pitches thrown by the host Rockies, who came away with a 9-4 victory.

Portland’s pitchers posted 17 strikeouts and allowed only five hits. On offense, Elvis Pena contributed four hits, helping the Rockies remain atop the Southern Division with the league’s best record, 17-6.

Portland scored three runs in the first inning. After Spokane answered with three in the second, the Rockies took the lead for good by plating three more.

Tonight, Portland will match Scott Randall (2-0) against Spokane’s Steve Prihoda (0-1).

After Garrett Neubart opened Portland’s first inning with a single, Pena beat out a bunt. Matt Whitley followed with an RBI single, and Pena scored when Spokane center fielder Leon Weathersby mishandled the ball. A wild pitch scored Whitley.

Scot Pinoni began Spokane’s rally with a double. An error, a wild pitch and Tyrone Frazier’s sacrifice fly scored two runs. Another wild pitch and a passed ball tied the score at 3-3.

Portland chased Spokane starter Justin Adam (1-3) in the second with Pena contributing an RBI double.

Winning pitcher Chand Martin (3-0) struck out 11 in six innings.