Berkery slam punctuates win

When Thomas Berkery went up to the plate for his fifth at-bat, he just wanted to score runs.

With Spokane already ahead of the Boise Hawks 3-0, he connected for an eighth-inning grand slam over the left-field fence in the Indians’ 7-3 Northwest League baseball victory Tuesday night in Game 1 of a three-game series at Avista Stadium in front of 3,121 spectators.

The victory kept the last-place Indians (21-41) from being eliminated from the division race. Boise is the East leader at 34-28.

Berkery also scored the game’s first run in the first inning. He doubled and scored on Chad Tracy’s double. The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the eighth when the Indians scored six runs, including two on designated hitter Nick Cadena’s double.

Spokane’s shutout slipped away in the ninth inning when reliever Juan Carlos Garcia gave up a walk, base hit and wild pitch to put runners on second and third. Mario Mercedes drove in Boise’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center field. Boise tacked another base hit on Garcia, followed by a one-hopper within the pitcher’s reach that touched his glove and changed the ball’s direction, causing Berkery to bobble the play. Berkery was charged with an error, Spokane’s third of the night, as Boise closed to 7-2. Garcia hit the next batter to load the bases.

Patrick Donovan replaced Garcia and hit the next batter in the foot. Spokane manager Mike Micucci came out of the dugout to question the call, but to no avail.

Micucci was ejected from Monday night’s game after arguing with the umpire, but that didn’t stop him this time.

“I didn’t (care) if I got thrown out again,” he said. “It was no big deal. I didn’t want my players to think that was the breaking point of the game, because it wasn’t.”

Garcia, who usually starts, entered the game in the seventh inning with one out.

Spokane’s first run came off of Boise starter Mark Pawelek. Tracy’s RBI double hit the left-center field wall.

In the fourth inning Spokane’s Jay Heafner hit a bloop to right fielder Alfred Joseph. He attempted a diving catch, but the ball came out of his glove on impact. Heafner loaded the bases for the Indians, but they ended up stranding the three runners.

Kyle Rogers (2-1) started his third game for Spokane and gave up three hits while striking out three and lowering his ERA to 2.12. He held down Boise with runners in scoring position on two different occasions.

Game 2 of the series is tonight at 6:30 at Avista Stadium.