Greene ignites sparks
The standing-room-only crowd of 7,033 came out to Avista Stadium to see some Fourth of July fireworks, and the Spokane Indians obliged, producing some fireworks on the field in their 7-3 Northwest League win over the Vancouver Canadians on Wednesday night.
The Indians lit up the scoreboard early, with a three-run homer from catcher Jonathan Greene in the first inning that put Spokane up 3-1.
“We had a man on third and I was just trying to put the ball in the outfield and trying to get us what we needed,” said Greene, who finished the game with a homer, a single and a .316 batting average.
Fellow catcher Chris Gradoville, who filled in as designated hitter for the night, stepped to the plate in the fifth with Greene on second base. The two helped ignite an Indians rally that culminated in four runs and put the game away for good.
Gradoville hit a deep fly to center that drove home Greene and put Ian Gac in scoring position.
“As far as DH goes, I was just glad to get the opportunity to play and to put together a few good at-bats here and there and get the opportunity to show what I can do,” Gradoville said. “I thank coach for that. It turned out really well. Our team’s been coming from behind lately, and to get out early was definitely nice.”
The Indians maintained their lead after the fifth-inning outburst, but they have yet to lead an entire game this season. Greene’s homer was preceded by an RBI from Justin Frash in the top of the first that put the Canadians ahead 1-0.
“It was definitely good to get ahead early, because then you don’t have all the pressure on you,” Greene said.
Greene said steady pitching from the Indians’ bullpen played a significant part in their win.
“The pitchers had a lot more confidence tonight,” he said. “As a catcher, if a pitcher is having problems, you go out and try talking to the pitcher to calm them down.
“I only had to go out there once tonight because the pitchers were pitching so well.”
The Indians walked four batters in their win, compared to eight walks in Tuesday night’s losing effort.
Spokane’s Fabio Castillo, Ryan Falcon (2-0) and Andrew Laughter combined for 14 strikeouts. The trio held Canadians’ first baseman Danny Hamblin – whose homer and four RBIs were a big source of grief for Spokane on Tuesday – to one hit in five at-bats during the night.
The Indians (8-8, first place in NWL East) took a 2-1 edge in the five-game series against Vancouver (10-6). They will host the Canadians again tonight at 6:35.