Indians fall to Volcanoes

With the league gearing up for playoff season, the Spokane Indians came within three innings of closing to within a half game of Northwest League East Division-leading Boise on Sunday night at Avista Stadium.

Boise fell 8-2 to the Eugene Emeralds earlier in the evening while the Indians were still trying to fend off Salem-Keizer.

But Spokane couldn’t quite hold off the fiery Volcanoes and lost 5-2 when Salem picked up some late inning momentum to score three runs in the final third of the game.

“It was just a very good game,” Indians manager Tim Hulett said. “We kept it competitive and had the same number of hits they did, but they just scored two at the end.”

The Indians got on the board first in the fourth inning with a solo homerun from catcher Jonathan Greene.

But Salem stormed right back in the next three innings with hits from Chad Rothford, Andrew Davis and Shane Jordan, and by the seventh inning, the Volcanoes had carved out a 4-2 lead.

Four of the Volcanoes’ nine hits came off reliever Tommy Hunter, who had a less than auspicious debut outing for the Indians.

Hunter came into the game in the seventh inning and started off on a good note by striking out Barry Gunther.

But thereafter he gave up back-to-back flies to the outfield that resulted in two runs scored.

“That was not a good night,” said Hunter, who formerly played for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Texas Rangers drafted Hunter out of Alabama in the first round of this year’s draft. Until Sunday, it had been 10 weeks since Hunter last found himself in a game situation, and he’s trying to get back into his pitching rhythm.

With less than half the season remaining, the Indians are counting on Hunter and several other recent additions to the roster to keep the pressure on Boise.

The Indians play the Volcanoes again Monday night at 6:35 p.m. at Avista Stadium.