Teagarden finally arrives

BOISE – Taylor Teagarden was the No. 2-rated catching prospect in this year’s draft, according to Baseball America.

And why not, after hitting .333 with 22 doubles, seven homers and 33 RBI in 63 games during his junior season at the University of Texas.

Wednesday night, Teagarden started to live up to the hype that made him the third-round draft choice (99th overall) of the Texas Rangers with a breakout performance.

Teagarden broke out of a 1-for-20 start to his professional career with a 3-for-4 performance that included two homers and a double, and the Spokane Indians claimed a second consecutive shutout victory – this time 8-0 – over the Boise Hawks.

With the win, Spokane (22-27) moved into sole possession of first place in the Northwest League East Division standings, a game ahead of Boise (21-28) and Tri-City (21-28), a 10-6 loser to Yakima.

Douglas Mathis and Juan Maldonado combined for the eight-hit shutout. The Indians haven’t allowed a run in 21 innings over three games.

After K.C. Herren led off the game with a single to right field, German Duran homered to left to give Spokane a quick 2-0 lead.

Teagarden made it 4-0 in the second inning when – after Phillip Hawke’s leadoff single – he homered to left.

Spokane scored three more times in the fourth inning with one swing of Teagarden’s bat. John Mayberry reached via error and Hawke walked before Teagarden cashed in with a three-run drive to right field.

Teagarden scored the game’s final run in the sixth on Herren’s single to right.