Indians stumble against Bears

A day after taking advantage of sloppy Yakima defense to earn a much-needed win, the Spokane Indians pulled the same trick and gave one right back.

Spokane committed four errors and blew a golden chance to gain ground on the Tri-City Dust Devils by losing to the last-place Bears 5-3 Thursday night in Yakima.

With Spokane up 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth, shortstop Julio Santana’s fielding error with the bases loaded allowed two runs to score. Yakima added one more as the Indians failed to take advantage of Boise’s 9-8 victory over Tri-City.

The loss leaves Spokane two games behind the first-place Dust Devils in the Northwest League’s East Division with just six games remaining. Tri-City comes into Spokane tonight for the start of a three-game series.

The loss also spoiled a solid effort by Spokane starter Broc Coffman, who went five innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out six.

Thomas Van Buskirk (2-3) took the loss, allowing three runs in one inning.