Indians power past Eugene

Some may have thought the Spokane Indians lost most of their power earlier this week when Brandon Cashman was promoted.

At least offensive power. The Indians, though, proved in more ways than one Thursday that there shouldn’t be any power outages the rest of the season.

Spokane broke out for four home runs and sailed the final four innings behind flame-throwing top draft pick Thomas Diamond as the Indians secured a 9-4 over Eugene before a Northwest League crowd of 3,876 at Avista Stadium.

Diamond, the 10th overall pick in the 2004 amateur draft, struck out the first six batters he faced in order as the backend of Spokane’s piggyback rotation. He was clocked consistently at 93 mph as he mowed down 10 of the 14 Emeralds he faced in the final four innings.

“All four of my pitches were working well,” said Diamond, who picked up his first save in his third appearance. “The fastball, obviously, and I had a good changeup. The curveball, I’ve been working on that a lot and I was getting that over good. And the slider I was getting over for strikes.”

During one stretch, the 6-foot-2, 231-pounder from Kenner, La., threw 16 straight strikes.

Diamond said he knew he’d probably throw well after a shaky warmup in the bullpen.

“That’s usually the nights when you say ‘I’ll bear down here and give it what I’ve got.’ After that first pitch went out of my arm I thought ‘I feel pretty good out here.’ So I just said I’ll see how long I could go.”

For the Emeralds it was four innings too long.

“He was very impressive,” Spokane manager Darryl Kennedy said of Diamond. “He had his fastball working and he was spotting his breaking ball for strikes.”

Spokane (14-13) scored first for the first time in the five-game series, pulling out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. It was capped by a two-run homer by backup catcher Lizahio Baez.

Eugene (11-16) squared things in the fifth when Spokane starter Shawn Phillips ran out of gas. Sean Kazmar’s bases-clearing, two-out double did the damage.

Spokane made Phillips (1-0) the pitcher of record, though, when catcher Mike Nickeas hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.

The Indians played add-on in the sixth when Brandon Boggs had a two-run double followed by a two-run homer from Travis Metcalf as Spokane extended the lead to 8-3.

In the seventh, Baez hit a second homer, a solo shot to nearly the identical spot in straightaway right as his first homer.

Baez, who hails from Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic, hit .327 with seven homers and 55 RBIs in the Arizona Rookie League last year. He said he wasn’t trying to hit for power but was just looking to make contact with an easy swing.

Baez started at designated hitter Thursday.

“I’ll tell you what if he keeps swinging like that he’s going to find a spot anywhere in the lineup,” Kennedy said. “The guys are starting to get comfortable (at the plate). We’re just waiting for some guys to get hot. Tonight they were good. Anybody can do it one night. We’ve got to do it four or five more nights in a row.”

Spokane will seek to build some momentum in the final two games of the series against Eugene. It’s especially important considering the Indians will hit the road for back-to-back three-game series at division-leading Tri-City and Boise, two of the hottest teams in the NWL.

The Indians will send left-hander Clint Brannon (0-0, 2.57 ERA) to the mound tonight against Eugene righty William Ponce (0-3, 6.20).