As Starters Soar, So Do The Indians Sanches Adds To 4-Game Run Of Stellar Pitching

Spokane Indians starting pitchers continued their game of one-upsmanship Friday night.

But nothing short of perfection will outdo Brian Sanches’ effort.

Sanches pitched no-hit ball for five innings, facing the minimum 15 batters, to lead Spokane to a 7-4 win over Yakima at stormy, crowded Seafirst Stadium.

Sanches (1-0), making his fourth professional start, opened the game by hitting Joe Thurston with a pitch. He picked Thurston off first base, then retired the next 14 batters, nine by strikeout.

“I had a good season at Lamar (University) this year, but I don’t think I ever hit a groove like I did tonight,” said Sanches, a second-round selection in the amateur draft in June. “I knew when I was pitching that I could put it where I wanted and they wouldn’t hit it.”

Spokane (30-17) won its fourth consecutive Northwest League game and its 17th in the last 20 games.

The current streak, coming on the heels of a club-record 12-game streak, started with Ryan Baerlocher’s five strong innings vs. Southern Oregon. The second win featured Juan Medrano’s seven sharp innings, also vs. the Timberjacks, and No. 3 came when Kyle Snyder made his professional debut with three scoreless innings Thursday vs. Yakima.

Friday’s crowd of 6,613 was treated to nature’s fireworks, in the form of lightning, from the eighth inning on, and man-made fireworks after the game.

Sanches made it a stormy night for the Bears (21-25) for five innings. Starting with one out in the third, he fanned six of the next seven batters. His nine strikeouts tied the team’s season high, set by the since promoted Ryan Douglass in 6-2/3 innings on June 29.

“Toward the end of the first, into the second, and then the start of the third I knew it was going to be a good night,” Sanches said. “You can feel it as you get into that groove.”

Sanches, on a 60-pitch limit, threw 59. Raul Garcia relieved in the sixth and extended the no-hitter until Cliff Wren’s two-out, RBI single in the seventh that fell slightly in front of right fielder Jarrett Shearin. Wren, the league leader in doubles, added a two-run homer to right-center in the ninth off Jay Gehrke, with a light rain falling.

Garcia (1.26 ERA) allowed just his fifth earned run in 35-2/3 innings.

Ken Harvey provided Spokane’s offensive thunder. The first baseman went 4 for 4, doubled, homered and scored three times. Harvey, with a .432 batting average in 95 at-bats, also had a four-hit game exactly one month before.

Spokane catcher Casey Dunn was 3 for 3 with two RBIs. Third baseman G.J. Raymundo, however, went 0 for 4 to snap a 15-game hitting streak and was hobbled in the seventh when he fouled a pitch off his leg.

Spokane, 5-0 against Yakima this season, clinched its ninth consecutive series win. The Indians are 17-6 at home and 12-1 vs. North Division opponents since July 2.

Spokane maintained its four-game lead over Boise (26-21), which defeated Everett 7-3.

The Indians needed 49 games to reach 30 wins last year, when they shared the North crown with Boise but missed the playoffs on a tie-breaker.

The three-game series concludes tonight with Spokane right-hander Mike MacDougal (0-0, 3.32) scheduled to make his sixth start, against left-hander Wade Parrish (2-1, 4.25). MacDougal’s last outing, of five innings, was his longest.

The Indians begin a three-game set at Boise on Sunday. Spokane is scheduled to fly to Boise for the crucial series.

Notes

The Indians are slightly behind in their bid to set a season attendance record. Spokane is averaging 4,882 after 23 home games. The 1998 Indians averaged 4,904… . Spokane’s Jay Gehrke (22), Raul Garcia (20) and Jason Gilfillan (17) are 1-2-4 in NWL pitching appearances. Garcia’s six wins are tied for first in the league. … Spokane is 74 for 102 in stolen-base attempts.

Indians 7 Bears 4 Tonight: Yakima at Spokane, 7:05. Radio: KKPL 630-AM