Pitchers Turn On Fan As Tribe Wins Again

It’s the kind of strike that will put baseball fans in the seats, not keep them out.

Spokane pitchers struck out 12 Eugene batters and the Indians provided enough offense to beat the Emeralds 5-2 Sunday night. Just two of the runs were earned, thanks to four Eugene errors.

It was a third straight win here for the Indians, who wind up a four-game visit tonight. A fifth victory in six games moved their record within a game of .500 (5-6).

Modesto Villarreal (2-0), a lanky, 6-foot-4 right-hander, had the Emeralds eating out of his hand the first six innings. He struck out nine, seven the first three innings when he held the Ems hitless.

Jon Albrecht, the fifth Spokane pitcher, got the final out to earn his third save in as many opportunities.

Tony Miranda led off the game with a single and raced home on Brett Schafer’s following double to get the Indians started.

Emiliano Escandon’s infield grounder produced an unearned run for Spokane in the second inning and Randy Paulin’s bloop single to left drove in two in a three-run fifth that capped the scoring.

Reymundo DeLeon drove in both Eugene runs, with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning that cut the Indians’ lead to 2-1 and an infield grounder in the ninth.