Dodson Gives Indians A Good Feeling Ailing Outfielder Pushes Spokane Closer To North Division Crown Indians 11 Hawks 7
Jeremy Dodson had a case of the flu Tuesday night.
He gave the Boise Hawks two cases of the flew, as in baseballs that flew out of Memorial Stadium.
Dodson hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning for a 6-4 lead and a solo shot leading off a four-run seventh to power the Spokane Indians past Boise 11-7 in a do-or-die Northwest League ballgame.
The North Division title will be decided tonight, in the final regular-season game, when Spokane (47-28) and Boise (46-29) wrap up their three-game series.
The Indians must win because Boise has the edge in all league tiebreakers if both teams finish 47-29. Boise is 26-11 at home this season and has not lost a home series.
Tonight’s winner will open the league’s divisional playoffs Thursday at Salem-Keizer or Southern Oregon.
Dodson started feeling ill while Spokane flew to Boise on Monday. He hasn’t eaten solid food in two days, but his strength wasn’t all sapped.
“When people get sick, they tend to concentrate more on the task at hand,” Dodson said. “I guess that’s what happened tonight.”
Spokane batters, held to six hits during the first 13 innings of this series, woke up in the fifth against Boise starter Brandon Emanuel (4-5), who is 0-3 against the Indians.
Paul Phillips led off with a single to left field, Brian Shackelford singled to center and Dodson, after failing on a sacrifice bunt attempt, smashed a no-doubter to right.
“That was the straw for us to realize that we could get this done,” Indians manager Jeff Garber said of Dodson’s blast toward a far-off trailer court.
Spokane totaled eight runs and 10 hits in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to turn a 4-3 deficit into an 11-4 lead. Dodson’s homer in the seventh, his ninth of the season, went the opposite way, to left-center.
“That was one of my better swings of the year,” said Dodson, who is tied with Boise’s Jason Huisman for No. 2 in league RBIs, with 59. “I got a fastball right down the middle.”
Indians starter Matt Burch (3-2) appeared shaky in the fourth inning, after allowing two runs on a single and two doubles. Burch lost his temper on a balk call in the fifth, and had runners on first and second with no out when Garber visited the mound.
“He has some fire in him, and that’s what I like,” Garber said. “I told him he had a maximum of two batters left.”
Burch coaxed a double-play grounder from Huisman and ended the inning, and his night, with a flyout.
Tony Penny pitched one-hit ball for three innings to support Burch.
“Penny had done well the last time we were here,” Garber said. “That’s where we had been struggling, with middle relief.”
Indians third baseman Henry Calderon made two sharp defensive plays in the first to stop Boise from expanding its 2-1 lead. He ended the inning by starting a 5-2-3 double play with the bases loaded.
Spokane also enjoyed a sort of Family Night. Danny DiPace roped a two-run double in the third inning as a present for his parents, who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, and Corey Hart, whose father was visiting from Oklahoma, homered to right in the seventh.
“They have a good blend of hitting, pitching and speed,” Boise manager Tom Kotchman said of the Indians. “It would have been nice to win tonight, but nobody said this was going to be easy.”
Notes
Infielder Jeremy Freitas again coached first base for Spokane. Freitas has missed the last six games with a leg injury, leaving Spokane without some of its left-handed power. … Boise announced that assistant general manager Denise Jones would replace John Cunningham as G.M. next season. Cunningham is joining Stamfair Sports of Stamford, Conn.