Indians pick off victory
When the eighth inning finally ended Friday, the sold-out crowd at Avista Stadium let out a sigh of relief.
Undoubtedly, Spokane Indians reliever Yoon-Hee Nam let out the biggest one.
With the bases full of Eugene Emeralds and two outs, Spokane catcher Doug Hogan caught one of the Northwest League’s leading hitters – Daniel Robertson – asleep at third, picking him off and getting the Indians through the jam and on to the Fourth of July fireworks show with a 5-3 win.
“You might consider that luck, but that’s like the third one this year,” Spokane manager Tim Hulett said of the pickoff. “So after that it’s not luck anymore. Doug’s got a great move.
“Catchers don’t get saves, but tonight he should get a save for that one.”
With the victory, Spokane snatched the second game of the five-gave series against the Emeralds. The Indians (13-5) were limited to six hits and their defense was crucial in offsetting eight hits from Eugene (7-11).
Hogan and third baseman Matt West were on the same page in the top of the eighth.
“There’s a little signal between us,” Hogan said. “So he knows it’s coming and I know he knows it’s going to be there. … I usually don’t do it with two outs, but I figured why not give it a shot.”
After he was called out, Robertson shuffled back to the dugout then back to center field. He went 1 for 4, his single giving him 24 hits this season. Coming into the game, he was in a three-way tie for the most NWL hits with 23.
Reliever Nam, who was in the jam, finished with two scoreless innings and recorded his third hold.
It was consistent pitching by Spokane starter Richard Bleier that helped keep Robertson and the Ems at bay, Hulett said. Though Bleier struggled in the top of the third, when Eugene scored its three runs, he stuck it out through six innings and registered his first win of the season.
“After they scored three, we came back and responded with two,” Hulett said. “We’ve done that a lot this year, and that’s a great quality of this team.”
Eugene reliever Kyle Heyne was victim to Spokane’s vengeance in the fifth. His sidearm delivery didn’t seem to faze the Indians’ bats, and he registered the loss having pitched just 11/3 innings.
Tim Rodriguez smacked Heyne’s first fifth-inning pitch to center field and sparked an Indians rally. Two walks and a pitcher later, Jared Bolden blasted another double to the right-field wall, bringing in Rodriguez and Kyle Higgins.
The inning netted the Indians two runs and a four-run lead. With a little insurance in the eighth from a solo home run by Eric Fry, it was enough to get Spokane through the evening.
“Everybody was real relaxed, and I think it showed,” said Rodriguez, who went 2 for 3. “We needed to get the hits when the time came, and we got them.”
Notes
New to the Indians’ roster is pitcher Justin Gutsie, a 14th-round pick in this year’s draft from St. John’s University. He has yet to appear in a pro game. … Spokane’s Joey Butler leads the league in hitting with a .449 batting average, but he didn’t play Friday. … Friday’s game was full of extras for Avista Stadium fans, thanks to the holiday. Troops from Fairchild Air Force Base brought a giant flag to the middle of center field for the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Two Air Force helicopters did a flyby. During an inning break, four biplanes flew overhead in formation coincidentally timed immediately after a lucky couple’s marriage announcement.