Indians wait it out
Just like they had on Tuesday night, the Spokane Indians showed patience.
The Indians created enough offense in the second inning to neutralize the two-run lead the Dust Devils had put together in the first inning, then bided their time and steadily picked up momentum en route to a 5-4 Northwest League victory over the Tri-City Dust Devils in front of 5,320 fans on Wednesday night at Avista Stadium.
Spokane tied things up 2-2 in the second when Ian Gac blasted a home run, and Andres James hit an RBI single to score Eric Fry. Gac’s homer was his thirteenth of the year, which leads the Northwest League.
The Indians’ pent-up offense then climaxed in the bottom of the seventh when with a shallow fly to centerfield by Tim “T-Rod” Rodriguez.
With Rodriguez on base, the bottom of the Indians’ lineup got to work.
Kenny Smith’s fly to right-center advanced Rodriguez to third.
Then James – whose .194 batting average is the second lowest on the team – hit a perfectly-placed shot in between the outstretched gloves of the onrushing Dust Devils’ shortstop and third baseman to bring Rodriguez home.
James – who was a right-handed hitter until very recently, but got both his hits against Tri-City batting left-handed – hit .211 on the night, finishing 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and surprised even Indians manager Tim Hulett with his offensive production.
“It’s funny because I talked to James today and I said, ‘James, we want you to really work hard on defense and play defense, that’s what you’re trained to play. The things you do offensively are just a plus,’ ” Hulett said. “Because he’s not hit left handed very much, it’s only his second year. He just started switch-hitting last year, so anytime he gets a hit, that’s a big bonus.
“He’s doing a great job. He’s so much more of a threat for us left-handed because he can bunt.”
The bottom third of the Indians’ lineup accounted for five of the Indians’ 10 hits.
“They did a great job,” Hulett said. “We’ve been working hard at having better approaches, especially at the bottom of the lineup. The bottom of our lineup can set the table for the top of our lineup, so it’s a big deal.”
Leadoff man Matt Lawson’s double later in the seventh extended Spokane’s lead to 5-2.
Even though Jose Jaimes gave up two runs in the ninth, closer Andrew Laughter once again saved the day, earning his eighth save as the Indians held on to win by a single run.
The Indians and Dust Devils have put on several nail-biter productions this season: Six of the nine games they’ve played have been decided by a single run.
“I don’t know what it is about playing Tri-City that makes the games so close, but they’re fun games to watch that’s for sure,” Smith said. ” I definitely had my heart racing there at the end when they came back.
“But we had our closer Laughter come on strong, and he always seems to come out on top.”
With the win, the Indians (26-29) stay a half game ahead of the Boise Hawks (26-30) in the Northwest League East division standings. Tri-City (24-32) is now 2 1/2 games behind Spokane.
Spokane and Boise will battle it out for the division lead in a three-game series that begins tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Avista Stadium.