Sledge Breaks Out The Hammer, Hands Tribe Fourth Straight Loss

His name stumps most people, but Terrmel Sledge has made himself known to the Spokane Indians.

Sledge homered for the second consecutive night as the Everett AquaSox held off Spokane 6-4 Thursday in a Northwest League game between teams headed in different directions.

Sledge sent Mike MacDougal’s first pitch of the fifth inning deep beyond Seafirst Stadium’s right-field fence. The solo shot, Sledge’s fifth home run, broke a 3-all tie.

Attempting to rally the rest of the way, the Indians nearly pulled off the trick. They left runners on second and third bases in the eighth - with consecutive strike-outs - then loaded the bases in the ninth before Jake Baker hit into a game-ending double play.

Everett (28-23) turned four double plays while winning its fifth consecutive game and pulling within three games of Spokane (32-21) in the North Division.

Spokane has lost four consecutive games, including two straight at Seafirst for the first time since June 24-25. The Indians are also feeling the heat from second-place Boise (29-23), which defeated Yakima to close within 2-1/2 games.

Sledge is 4 for 9 in the series to raise his batting average to .363, No. 2 in the league.

“The offense has started clicking and the pitching as well,” Sledge said. “The Yakima series (a recent three-game sweep) was when we started to get into a groove.”

Sledge’s father, Melvin, wanted to work the name Mel into his son’s name. Melvin’s creation, Terrmel, has created much confusion. “People call me Terminal, Terminator; I get it all,” Sledge said. “My nickname, they just call me T.” MacDougal (1-1) struck out seven but pitched in jams for most of his five innings’ work. Winner Sam Walton (3-1) defied logic by hanging tough after surrendering five walks and three runs in the first inning. The Indians are hitting .208 during their four-game swoon. Worse yet, Spokane keeps waiting for someone to deliver a clutch hit with runners in scoring position. The Indians have left 14 runners in scoring position during the two games with Everett. Sledge and Boise’s Gary Johnson are running neck-and-neck for the league batting lead. Spokane’s Ken Harvey (.408) will lead once he has enough plate appearances.

“I try not to think about it,” Sledge said. “I just try to help the team win. I hit the ball hard, without trying to do anything special.”

Spokane’s Mark Ellis (.328) extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff single in the ninth on an 0-2 pitch. After Eric Nelson’s deep flyout to center, G.J. Raymundo reached on an infield hit and Harvey walked to load the bases. AquaSox reliever Kevin Olore fell behind Baker 3-0 on the next count, but earned his second save with a double-play grounder to shortstop on a 3-2 pitch.

League earned-run average leader Rafael Soriano (4-3, 2.28) is scheduled to start for Everett when the three-game series wraps up tonight. Soriano is also fourth in league strikeouts, with 54.

Spokane will counter with Ryan Baerlocher (5-2, 4.86), who hasn’t lost since July 12, when he was 1-2.