Hawks’ Win Leaves Indians With Backs Against The Wall

They haven’t reached the end of the road, but the Spokane Indians ventured close to that destination on Thursday night.

The Boise Hawks made the most of their six hits and, aided by Spokane’s sloppy play, rolled to a 9-2 win at Memorial Stadium to take the three-game series 2-1.

Spokane, which outhit Boise by one, dropped to 35-35 in the Northwest League’s North Division with six games to play. Boise (38-32) and Yakima lead the North by three games.

Spokane’s final regular-season homestand begins at 7:05 tonight, with the first of three games against Yakima. Spokane’s regular season will end with three games at Yakima, starting Monday.

Boise, which is on an 11-2 streak, plays its final six games at home against Everett. Boise is 5-1 vs. Everett this season, the same advantage Spokane has over Yakima.

Boise was limited to four singles - two in the infield - and a pair of runscoring, extra-base hits. Tommy Murphy had an RBI double in the third, and J.R. Warner tripled home a run and scored in the eighth.

Spokane assisted the Hawks offense with seven walks, three hit batters, two balks, two errors and two wild pitches. Boise leadoff hitter Johnny Raburn also stole three bases and scored each time.

Hawks starter Joe Torres (3-1) struck out eight in six innings, including six consecutive batters in the fourth and fifth.

First baseman Chad Santos drove in both of Spokane’s runs, with a single to center in the second and a single to right in the ninth. Santos, with 46 RBIs, trails Boise’s Jeff Wagner by two for the league lead.

Spokane and Boise split their 12-game season series.

Spokane finished its road trip 3-3. The three losses are the Indians’ only setbacks in the last 10 games.

Ian Ferguson, (4-6) who has allowed just three earned runs in his last 25-2/3 innings, is scheduled to start for the Indians tonight.