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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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A grand old time in the rain

A little wet but still having fun, the fans of Spokane Indians baseball stay dry under umbrellas Monday night. At the plate John Mayberry Jr. of the Indians bats in the third inning, reaching first base. (Christopher Anderson/ / The Spokesman-Review)
J.D. Larson Correspondent
A little wet but still having fun, the fans of Spokane Indians baseball stay dry under umbrellas Monday night. At the plate John Mayberry Jr. of the Indians bats in the third inning, reaching first base. (Christopher Anderson/ / The Spokesman-Review)

Sometimes clichés come true.

Trailing by three runs going into the home half of the ninth inning, the Spokane Indians rallied to defeat Everett 8-6 Monday night in a Northwest League baseball game in front of 2,858 at Avista Stadium.

The gigantic swing that proved it’s never over ‘til it’s over was a grand slam by the Indians’ Freddie Thon.

Thon’s big hit came with one out and capped what was already a wild inning. The first two Indians drew walks and the third batter reached base on an error. Thrown into the mix was a bases-loaded walk to Brian Balichka and the inning’s only out.

Up to that point, Spokane couldn’t avoid the sloppiness that comes with cold weather and a wet field, as Everett built a 6-3 lead.

Everett scored three runs, only one earned, in the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie. Daniel Santin led off the inning with a single off Indians reliever Justin Abbott, and J.B. Tucker followed with a single, moving Santin to second.

A sacrifice bunt from Mike Saunders put runners on second and third with one out, and a wild pitch from Abbott scored Santin to give the AquaSox the lead. Spokane seemingly dodged a bullet when Alex Gary’s fly ball to John Mayberry Jr. was too short to score Tucker and Abbott got Hyung Cho to hit a routine ground ball to short.

Julio Santana, who moved from second to short at the start of the inning, took the ball off the chest and couldn’t recover as the run scored for a 5-3 Everett lead. AquaSox second baseman Luis Valbuena compounded Santana’s error, tripling into the gap in left-center to put the AquaSox up three.

Everett also got a run in the top of the fifth to break a 2-2 tie on only three hit batters, with Gary scoring on an RBI groundout to first by Dean Zorn.

Spokane evened the game up in the bottom of the inning on an RBI groundout by left fielder Joe Kemp, which scored designated hitter Steve Murphy, who walked to open the inning.

Everett scored single runs in the first and fourth off Spokane starter Brett Zamzow, who threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and three runs, two earned, while striking out five.

The Indians answered in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Murphy, scoring leadoff hitter and center fielder K.C. Herren.

Spokane added another run in the second as first baseman Thon led off the inning with a double over Gary’s head in left field. Third baseman Wally Backman Jr. attempted to sacrifice Thon to third, but Tucker, the AquaSox catcher, threw the ball into left field, scoring Thon.

Notes

Seattle Mariners pitcher Rafael Soriano, who last pitched for the Mariners early in 2004, is scheduled to make his second rehab start with the AquaSox against the Indians tonight at 6:30 p.m. He’ll likely throw one inning, like he did in his first start, when he allowed one run on one hit. … Spokane picked up a couple new players, including Arizona State second baseman Joey Hooft, who will join the Indians Wednesday. Hooft just finished his career with the Sun Devils in the semifinals of the College World Series after spending his first three years at Miami. Hooft batted .293 this season, stealing 13 bases for ASU. The Indians will also add right-handed pitcher Cain Byrd, the Rangers’ 18th-round draft pick out of San Jacinto (Texas) JC in 2003. Byrd missed the 2004 season to undergo elbow surgery, and made his professional debut last week in the Arizona Rookie League.