Yakima provides the fireworks en route to victory over Indians
It’s a good thing most of the 5,287 fans hung around for the postgame Independence Day fireworks Sunday night because most of the attempts for offensive fireworks by the Spokane Indians were duds.
In one game Yakima hit more home runs (four) at Avista Stadium than the Indians (three) had in nine games as the Bears pulled into a first-place tie atop the Northwest League’s East Division with Spokane by virtue of a 6-3 decision.
Spokane (9-8) added to its league-leading stikeout total, fanning 12 times.
Asked about his club’s strikeout woes, Indians manager Darryl Kennedy promptly said he didn’t want to talk about it. Then he proceeded to talk at length about it, but he made it clear he’s far from concerned just 17 games into the 72-game season.
To Kennedy, belaboring the strikeout pattern — the Indians are averaging a little more than 10 per game — is much ado about nothing.
“We’re making a lot out of some things that we don’t have to worry about,” Kennedy said. “We have a certain hitting plan and we’re going to carry it out. You know what, it may make us strike out more. We’re asking some guys to learn some new things. It’s a learning process, and I’m tired of talking about it.”
Yakima (9-8) moved into a first-place tie by winning its fourth straight. The Bears’ hitters backed solid pitching by making the most of their hits. Four of the seven hits cleared the fences.
The left-handed hitting Chris Carter got things started with a solo shot in the second inning off of Spokane lefty Justin Lensch (1-3), who suffered a third straight loss after winning his season debut.
An inning later, Mark Reynolds belted a two-run homer over the 365-foot left-center gap. And the Bears made it 4-0 on a run-scoring single by Daniel Pohlman in the third before Lensch left after four innings.
Yakima leadoff hitter Erik Schindewolf led off the fifth with a solo homer. The Bears extended their lead to 6-3 in the ninth on a lead-off homer by Trey Hendricks. The blast hit the top of the scoreboard in right-center field.
Opponents have hit 13 homers at Avista while 12 of Spokane’s 15 homers have come on the road.
Prior to the final homer, Spokane had pulled within 5-3 in the eighth when Michael Mask, who reached on a lead-off double, scored on Brandon Boggs’ sacrifice fly.
Yakima starting pitcher A.J. Shappi threw four no-hit innings before leaving on a predetermined pitch count. The righthander was sharp, allowing just one runner on a first-inning walk.
Spokane’s first hit came in the fifth when Jim Fasano reached on a broken-bat looper that barely made it on to the grass behind first base.
“It seems in every other interview I do somebody is talking about strikeouts,” Kennedy said. “Look at everybody in the league — we’re all around .500. Last year we were 11-12 or 12-11 at one point in the season and then things started to click. I’m not worried about it. We’re chasing some bad pitches with two strikes but striking out is part of the ballgame. We’ve got work to do, yes. But we’ve got work to do in a lot of facets of our game. Am I going to push the panic button? No.”
Notes
The loss was Spokane’s first in a series opener this season. … Tonight’s scheduled pitchers are right-hander Kevin Altman (0-1, 6.08 ERA) for Spokane and righty Jered Liebeck (0-1, 6.30) for Yakima.