Indians lose to Bears, fall five back
The rheostat on the Spokane Indians’ playoff hopes hasn’t been dialed all the way to the off position, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t almost dark for the defending Northwest League champions.
And it’s hard to hit in the dark.
Spokane lost its third straight game Saturday at Avista Stadium, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Yakima Bears. A.J. Shappi spun seven innings of four-hit ball for Yakima, turning Spokane hitters inside out with an impressive array of breaking balls and a never-give-in attitude.
“I’ve played with A.J. before and he’s always been a quality pitcher,” Spokane right fielder Ben Harrison said. “His numbers back him up. He just doesn’t give in to the hitter. He was throwing his slider for strikes and another hard slider that we were chasing.”
The situation is this: Spokane, 34-34, trails first-place Boise by five games with just eight remaining in the season. Losses are something the team can ill-afford – let alone a losing streak.
Spokane dropped three of five games at Salem-Keizer, including the final two games of the series, before returning for a home-and-home series with the Bears.
The Hawks, a team Spokane beat in two of three games last weekend, opened up a two-game lead on Tri-Cities with a victory over the Dust Devils last night at Pasco.
“I don’t know what the problem is,” Harrison said. “I just know that we’re going out there and playing hard every day. The good thing about baseball is that every day is a new day. You can start over.”
Spokane appeared on the cusp of that new start in the first inning, loading the bases against Shappie. Tug Hulett and Kevin Mahar opened the game with back-to-back singles, but Travis Metcalf followed by hitting into a double play.
Spokane’s starting pitcher, John Bannister, worked out of a bases-loaded first-inning jam and held the Bears scoreless through three. Carlos collected a two-out single in the third, and Chris Carter drove him in with a hard double off the wall in left-center field.
Bannister got Yakima lead-off hitter Eric Shindewolf to fly out to left to open the fifth inning, but walked shortstop Mark Reynolds and gave up a double to Gonzalez and left the game with runners on the corners. Reliever Marcos Herrera coaxed Carter into tapping the ball back to the mound, but overlooked a potential play at the plate to throw the left fielder out at first, allowing Reynolds to score easily with what proved to be the winning run.
Harrison gave Spokane its lone run leading off the bottom of the fifth inning, crushing a Shappie pitch deep over the wall in left-center field.
“That was probably the only fastball I saw all night,” Harrison said. “I was looking for a fastball – I’m always looking for a fastball. This time he threw one and I was able to get around on it.”
Spokane hands the ball to right-hander John Lujan tonight, while Yakima counters with lefty Kellen Raab.
“You never know when you’re going to break out of a streak like this,” Harrison said. “I don’t know if we’re just trying too hard right now. I know we faced a tough pitcher tonight and we have to tip our cap to him and come back and try again tomorrow. That’s all we can do.”