Indians’ hit parade goes on

The Spokane Indians didn’t do much wrong Wednesday.

Starting pitcher Trevor Hurley allowed just one unearned run and the Indians posted double-digit hits for the third consecutive night as they thumped Boise 7-1 in front of 3,818 at Avista Stadium.

Spokane (32-33) won its third straight over Boise (30-35), and is seven games back of East Division leader Tri-City. Still, the second-place Indians have won five of their last seven and they moved within one game of .500 for the first time since the first week of the season. At one point, Spokane was 14-25 in late July.

“We’re getting good pitching, solid defense and of course the guys are swinging the bats. We’re getting timely hits and tonight we got a lot of hits,” Spokane manager Tim Hulett said. “Until we’re officially eliminated there have been stranger things that have happened. We’re going to go out and keep playing.”

Hurley won his staff-leading sixth game, solving a bit of the home-field blues in the process. Prior to Wednesday, Hurley had a 7.56 ERA at home, even with a strong performance against Salem-Keizer 11 days ago, and a 0.97 ERA on the road.

“I have no idea why,” said Hurley, who pitched into the seventh inning. “I was just focused on having a good outing at home. I really want to do well in front of the home crowd.”

Spokane went on top 1-0 in the third. Joe Bonadonna walked, moved up on a balk and a ground out, and scored on Jason Ogata’s infield single behind third base.

The Indians broke it open with five runs in the fourth, fueled by seven singles, including five straight. Zach Zaneski, who had his second straight two-hit game, and Ogata had run-scoring singles and Miguel Velazquez knocked in two with his base hit to center. Bonadonna added a sacrifice fly.

Hurley gave up just one hit through five innings. He walked the bases loaded in the sixth but fanned Greg Rohan to keep Boise scoreless. The Hawks’ lone run came in the seventh when Bobby Wagner doubled and eventually scored on a balk.

“I was just trying to mix the fastball in and out, keep them guessing, really just trying to locate pitches,” Hurley said. “I lost touch in the sixth, but I regained focus and got out of it.”

By the end of the fourth inning, every Indian had at least one hit except Bonadonna, who finished with two walks, a run scored and an RBI.

Notes

Ogata drove in two more runs, his sixth consecutive game with at least one RBI. He finished with three hits, improving his average to .397. … Velazquez has an 11-game hitting streak. … Indians reliever Robert Wilkins, who joined the team last week, made his home debut. He replaced Hurley in the seventh and gave up two hits and no runs. “I really like his fastball,” Hulett said. “He has good angle on it down in the zone and a little zip to it.” … Boise’s Logan Watkins singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.