Indians roll to first win at Avista
It took almost four hours, but in the end the Spokane Indians claimed their first home victory of the season.
The Indians totaled 13 hits in the 10-4 victory Monday night against the Tri-City Dust Devils in Northwest League play in front of a crowd of 3,378 at Avista Stadium.
Kasey Kiker started on the mound for the Indians and pitched three innings, giving up five hits and three runs.
“The pitching set the tone,” Spokane manager Mike Micucci said. “You can see the difference between last night and tonight.”
Spokane’s designated hitter Chris Kemp opened the second inning with a single to center field and was advanced by second baseman Nick Cadena’s single to shortstop. Left fielder Chris Davis was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Shortstop Jay Heafner flew out to right field and Kemp was thrown out at home on the tag-up. Cadena and Davis were in scoring position when Hunter Harrigan loaded the bases again when he was hit by a pitch. First baseman Brian Nelson ripped a ball over the shortstop, knocking in Cadena and Davis for a 2-0 lead.
Tri-City (4-4 home, 2-5 away) fired back in the third with Matt Repec’s double. He was immediately knocked in by Victor Ferrante’s single to left.
Cadena hit his first double of the season in the home half of the third, scoring third baseman Steve Marquardt, who got on base with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.
Leading 3-1, Spokane (1-6 home, 5-3 away) again loaded the bases in the fourth with Haefner opening the inning with a walk, followed by consecutive base hits from Harrigan and Nelson. Right fielder Wally Backman Jr. scored Haefner with a sacrifice fly to left field. Marquardt got on base with a walk and the bases were loaded for the fourth time in the game. Davis knocked in Haefner with a grounder to the shortstop, who tried to tag second himself, but Marquardt arrived safely to keep the inning alive as Spokane built a 5-1 lead on the play.
Tri-City’s offense came alive in the sixth inning when they unloaded four base hits off Spokane’s Adam Schaecher, scoring two runs and narrowing the Indians’ lead to 5-3.
Spokane again loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth when Tri-City’s Alvin Hayes walked the first three batters. After a pitching change, Marquardt batted in one run, but caused a forceout at second. Kemp reached on a walk, replacing the missing base runner, but both Cadena and Davis struck out, ending the inning.
Tri-City manager Freddie Ocasio questioned a call made by the home plate umpire in the seventh inning when the Dust Devils’ Ferrante was up to bat. Ferrante had stepped out of the batter’s box after the pitch was thrown without calling a time-out. During the questioning the umpire ejected Ocasio from the game.
The Indians added another run in the seventh when Backman reached on a throwing error, which scored Haefner, who opened the inning with a base hit up the middle.
The Dust Devils scored their fourth run with a RBI single in the eighth by Michael McKenry. But Spokane’s offense answered when Grant Gerrard delivered his third triple of the season and scored on a sacrifice fly from Kemp. A double to the fence from Cadena scored Marquardt, who got on base with a single. Cadena then scored on a passed ball.
The final game of the three-game series against the Dust Devils will be tonight at 6:30 at Avista Stadium. There will be a fireworks show after the game.