Spokane defeats Eugene
Had the Spokane Indians benefited from a little more hitting throughout their season-opening homestand, they’d probably be heading out on the road with an above .500 record.
Spokane coupled clutch hitting with another solid combined pitching effort as the Indians fought back for a 6-4 win over the Eugene Emeralds in a Northwest League game Saturday before a crowd of 5,925 at Avista Stadium.
The Indians (2-3) will take some momentum to Salem-Keizer where they’ll surely need it. The 2006 league champion Volcanoes completed a five-game sweep in their season-opening series with a 9-4 win at Boise.
“It’s always nice to have a win when you’re going to go on a nine-hour bus trip,” said Spokane manager Tim Hulett, whose team was headed to Salem immediately following postgame fireworks and showers. “I think it’ll be good. The guys will stay at a hotel and kind of bond a little bit. Doing it under winning circumstances is always better.”
Eugene (3-2) struck first, using three straight hits to open the game for two runs off left-handed starter Daniel Hoben.
Hoben settled down thereafter, allowing just one more run and a hit in four innings.
Righty Ryan Tatusko (1-0) followed with a brilliant effort, allowing no hits in three innings of relief while striking out four.
Tatusko, a 2007 18th-round draft pick out of Indiana State University, felt much better about his appearance Saturday than he did in his first game, a one-inning outing on Thursday.
“I wasn’t as nervous this time as I was last time,” the 6-foot-6 pitcher out of Noblesville, Ind., said. “I kind of shook off the rust. I thought my defense made excellent plays behind me. I knew my defense was with me and I knew that if I threw strikes my defense was going to make plays.”
Hulett was impressed.
“He showed good composure,” Hulett said of Tatusko. “He had good command of the strike zone and got ahead of the hitters. It was a good combination.”
The Indians trailed 3-2 when opportunity presented itself in the fourth inning. Tim Rodriguez and Davis Stoneburner both reached base on singles. Leadoff hitter Renny Osuna fell behind 0-2 with two outs when he pulled a pitch sharply over third base, scoring Rodriguez and Stoneburner to put the Indians ahead to stay at 4-3.
Osuna said his job when he fell behind 0-2 was to somehow find a way to put the ball in play.
Spokane added a run in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Two walks, coupled with a key error when the pitcher tried to start a double play when his throw went wide of second into the outfield, allowed the Indians to double up the Emeralds at 6-3.
The Indians finished with 10 hits, three from Osuna.
“As soon as we settle down you’re going to see a good team,” Hulett said. “A lot of these guys have been off for a while and haven’t been swinging the bat against competitive pitching. And they’re changing from aluminum to wood so it’s going to take them a few days. But they’re starting to come around.”
Notes
The Indians had a wonderful homestand at the gate as 31,276 witnessed the first five games. … Righty Fabio Castillo (0-1) will get his second start tonight. … After five games at Salem and three at Tri-City, Spokane returns home for five against Vancouver on July 2.