Basically, It’S A Big Victory Snyder Looks Sharp As Spokane Turns Back Boise Indians 7 Hawks 3

The Spokane Indians call it small ball. But center fielder James Shanks admits it’s just basic baseball.

That’s the style the Indians played in Thursday’s big 7-3 Seafirst Stadium victory over Boise. The win, accomplished before 5,246 fans, moved them 3-1/2 games ahead of the Hawks in the Northwest League’s North Division heading into this season’s final meeting between the teams at 7:05 tonight.

And that’s the style they have to stick with to reach the league playoffs, Shanks said.

The Indians (40-26) must win the division outright because the Hawks, who lead the season series 7-4, will advance to the playoffs if the teams end the season tied.

“Today’s game was really good for us,” said Shanks, who had two hits and scored his team’s first run in the first inning. “We needed to at least win one in this series to put pressure on the other teams instead of putting pressure on us.”

Boise (36-29) still has seven remaining games at home with third-place Everett - one being a makeup from a rainout - but Hawks manager Tom Kotchman knows the series may not matter if Spokane wins again tonight.

“I don’t even talk to the players before the game,” Kotchman said. “There’s nothing to say. They know what they have to do, they know what’s at stake. If anything, you try to loosen it up a little bit.”

Thursday night, Spokane starter Kyle Snyder demonstrated why he is one of the Kansas City Royals’ top prospects.

The 6-foot-8 right-hander threw five hitless innings with four strikeouts and a walk to earn his first professional victory. It was the first time in five starts that Snyder, a first-round draft pick out of the University of North Carolina, had been allowed to pitch long enough to qualify for a win.

Thursday, he was on a pitch limit of 55. And as soon as he left, the Indians surrendered their first hit, a double by Boise’s Josh Shaffer, leading off the sixth inning. The Hawks went on to score three runs on two hits and two walks off Snyder’s successor, left-hander Jay King.

King settled down after that, retiring six straight batters before closer Jay Gehrke came in to pitch the ninth.

Spokane’s defense made some impressive plays.

Shortstop Mark Ellis made a diving grab of Scott Bikowski’s line drive in the first inning, and left fielder Charlie Ramirez laid out for a big catch on a hard-hit ball by Mike O’Keefe in the fifth. Spokane had seven hits through the fourth inning and led 3-0.

Eric Nelson had a double that bounced off the left-field wall and scored Shanks in the first. The Indians scored two more in the fourth on three singles and four more in the fifth, when Nelson had another run-scoring double, this one to the gap in left-center.

For the second straight night, the Hawks intentionally walked Ken Harvey - the league’s hitting leader - with runners aboard. They also intentionally walked G.J. Raymundo.

Boise first baseman Casey Kelley, who played at Washington State University, said the Hawks know the importance of tonight’s game. “It will kind of make you or break you,” he said. “They could go on a cold streak and we could stay hot and gain a couple. But you can’t worry about what they’re going to do. We have to worry about us.”

Notes

Indians pitching coach Randy Smith was thrown out in the sixth inning for arguing a call on his way back to the dugout after talking to reliever Jay King… . Right-hander Brian Sanches (1-1, 4.70 ERA), a second-round draft pick, will pitch tonight for Spokane. Boise will counter with lefty Wes Crawford (3-1, 2.19).

INDIANS 7, HAWKS 3

Boise Spokane AB R H BI AB R H BI BI Kowski cf 4 1 0 1 shanks cf 5 1 2 0 Amezaga 2b 4 1 1 1 Ellis ss 5 1 1 0 Barski dh 3 0 0 0 Nelson 2b 5 1 2 2 Quinlan 3b 3 0 0 0 Harvey 1b 3 1 2 0 O’Keefe lf 3 0 1 0 Raymundo 3b 3 2 1 0 Kelley 1b 1 0 0 0 Dunn dh 3 1 1 1 Palmieri 1b 2 0 0 1 Baker rf 3 0 0 1 Gregorio c 4 0 0 0 BJohnson c 4 0 1 1 GJohnson rf 2 0 0 0 Ramirez lf 3 0 1 1 Boeth rf 2 0 0 0 Lucas lf 1 0 0 0 Shaffer ss 3 1 1 0 Totals 31 3 3 3 Totals 35 7 11 6

Boise 000 003 000 - 3 Spokane 100 240 00x - 7

E-Amezaga (12), Quinlan 2 (26), Shanks (8). LOB-Boise 5, Spokane 8. 2B-Shaffer (11), Nelson 2 (16). SB-O’Keefe (4), Shanks (17).

Boise IP H R ER BB SO LaCorte L,2-5 4-1/3 9 7 6 4 1 Berryman 2-2/3 2 0 0 0 2 Glysch 1 0 0 0 0 0

Spokane IP H R ER BB SO Snyder 5 0 0 0 1 4 King 3 2 3 1 2 4 Gehrke 1 1 0 0 0 1

HBP-by Snyder (Kelley). WP-Berryman. T-2:30. A-5,246 (7,162).