Ruiz’s heroics send Indians to loss

Earlier Tuesday, Vancouver Canadians infielder Ryan Ruiz was named to the Northwest League All-Star team.

Tuesday night, Ruiz showed Spokane Indians fans why he was selected.

Ruiz hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer to left field in the seventh inning to give the Canadians a 5-4 win in Northwest League baseball play at Avista Stadium.

“I was looking for a fastball,” said the 5-foot-8 right-hander after his first homer as a professional. “The other guys told me (Indians pitcher Shawn Phillips) throws a lot of fastballs. Fortunately, I got hold of one.”

Ruiz had missed seven consecutive games after being hit in the right elbow during a series against Salem-Keizer. He entered Tuesday with a .337 batting average, including a 5-for-14 effort when Vancouver hosted Spokane earlier this month.

“Coach said I might have a chance to get in (Tuesday’s game) if we got in a good situation,” Ruiz said. “I was ready the whole game … but I wasn’t expecting that.”

Vancouver (19-20) leads the five-game series 3-1 and the season series 7-2. The Indians won seven of 10 games from the Canadians last season.

Spokane (20-19) fell two games behind first-place Tri-City in the NWL’s East Division.

Eight of the nine runs on the evening were produced by homers.

Canadians catcher Kurt Suzuki hit his second homer in two nights by connecting for a two-run shot off Indians starter Eric Hurley in the third.

Hurley, a first-round selection last month out of Wolfson High in Jacksonville, Fla., otherwise looked sharp in his Indians debut. A 6-4 right-hander with a deliberate windup, he allowed two hits in four innings, striking out three.

The Indians began a rally with Mike Nickeas’ two-out RBI double just over the reach of right fielder Richard Robnett in the third.

Spokane seized a 4-2 lead with a three-run fifth sparked by long balls.

Travis Metcalf lined a one-out, solo homer just fair to left to tie the score at 2. It was Metcalf’s club-high ninth homer and league-best 33rd RBI. Metcalf has four homers in the last three games.

After Nickeas singled to left, Ben Harrison lined a 3-2 pitch to left for his first homer since July 9, also against Vancouver.

Indians reliever Phillips (1-1) pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth, striking out the side in the sixth. He nearly escaped the seventh before Ruiz, batting for starter Ben Winslow, jumped on a two-out, 2-1 pitch with runners at first and second.

Ruiz will be back in Spokane on Tuesday for the NWL All-Star Game.

“That’s a great accomplishment,” said the University of Nevada-Las Vegas product. “I’m really excited to be coming back to Spokane after we finish our next series.”

Dallas Braden (2-0) pitched one-hit ball for the final four innings to earn the win. Braden worked out of possible trouble in the ninth after Bobby LeNoir led off with a single to left. Next batter Tug Hulett hit a liner that third baseman Leslie caught at his shoestrings and converted into a double play.

Spokane will play its lone afternoon game of the season at 3:30 p.m. today. Spokane right-hander Mark Roberts (2-5, 3.58) is scheduled to start against right-hander Steven Sharpe (2-1, 3.98). Roberts is among the top 10 in league ERA and ranks No. 4 in strikeouts (40).

The Indians begin a five-game series at Eugene on Thursday.

Notes

Spokane (3.55) leads the league in team ERA. Boise (3.93) ranks a distant second. … The Indians have stolen 39 bases in 45 attempts.