Paisano makes it all better
Three-run home runs tend to cure a host of baseball ailments, particularly those defensive in nature.
The one David Paisano clubbed Saturday night at Avista Stadium, for instance, helped the Spokane Indians overcome a variety of defensive disorders – including four unseemly errors – and put away the Everett AquaSox 5-2 in the finale of their season-opening five-game Northwest League series.
Paisano, who came in batting .250 and still looking for his first run batted in, energized his team and a wind-whipped crowd of 5,448 by launching a Kenta Suda fastball high over the left-field fence to break a 2-2 fourth-inning tie and give the Indians (3-2) the series win.
Paisano’s blast came with two runners on base and made a winner out of starting pitcher Wilfredo Boscan (2-0), who worked five innings, scattered four hits and refused to cave in despite his team’s defensive struggles.
“The moment I hit it, I knew it was gone,” Paisano, a 21-year-old from Cumana, Venezuela, said with teammate Tim Rodriguez acting as his interpreter. “I was looking for whatever pitch he was going to throw and just reacted.
“It was exciting to be able to give us the lead and help out the team.”
Indians manager Tim Hulett was also pumped about Paisano’s game-winning home run, which came with one out and Jacob Kaase and Cody Podraza on base.
“The timing was great, and timing is everything – especially when you only put six hits up on the board,” Hulett said.
Spokane didn’t do much with the bats, but its four-run fourth chased Suda (0-1) and provided more than enough cushion for relievers Yoon-Hee Nam and Ryan Schlecht, who shut out Everett (2-3) on just two hits over the final four innings.
Boscan, who picked up his other win in a relief appearance, stayed sharp throughout his stint on the mound, finished with four strikeouts and also drew praise from Hulett.
“He did a great job,” Hulett said of the 6-foot-2, 160-pound right-hander from Maracaibo, Venezuela. “For a young guy, he showed some great composure, pitched us out of some jams and only gave up one earned run – and after some really shaky defense behind him.”
Butler, who started in right field, finished with two of Spokane’s six hits, while Kaase, Rodriguez and Matt West each collected one.
The Indians squandered an excellent scoring opportunity in the top of the second when Suda walked Doug Hogan and Butler to open the inning and Kaase moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt.
It looked like Hogan would score easily when Suda unleashed a pitch over the head of Podraza, but the ball clipped Podraza’s bat and went foul, forcing Hogan to return to third. A couple of pitches later, Hogan was thrown out at home on Podraza’s grounder to short.
Spokane nicked Suda for an early run when Jared Bolden earned a two-out walk, scampered to third on Matt West’s bloop single to right and scored on Rodriguez’s infield hit that was knocked down by AquaSox third baseman Nate Tenbrink.
Spokane’s other run came just prior to Paisano’s big fly in the fourth, when Butler singled, stole second and scored on an error.