Jones wears down Indians

At least the home team smacked two home runs.

Other than that, there wasn’t much for Spokane Indians fans to get excited about as an eight-game homestand came to an end on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon with an 8-3 loss to the Everett AquaSox.

“They got some (clutch hits) early,” Spokane manager Tim Hulett said. “We made some pretty good pitches. They made some pretty good swings to get base hits out of them.”

If there is a silver lining to the 3-5 homestand – including 2-3 against Everett (21-11) – for local baseball fans, it was watching the professional debut of Everett’s James Jones, the Seattle Mariners’ fourth-round draft choice out of Long Island University.

Jones went 3 for 4 with a walk, scored once and had a critical run batted in. For the series – and the first five games of his career – he has 10 hits in 20 at-bats, including a home run, five RBIs, four walks and six strikeouts.

Jones led off the second with the first of his three singles. In one of the key plays of the game, he was safe at second on what could have been the turn of an inning-ending double play. After second baseman Joe Bonadonna dropped the ball, Anthony Phillips singled and Ryan Royster doubled to right field for two RBIs and a 3-0 lead.

Spokane (12-20) got two runs back when Tommy Mendonca lined a pitch from Andrew Carraway (3-0) into the short porch down the right-field line, but Jones contributed a single as the Sox scored again in the third off starter Matt Thompson (1-3).

After the Indians failed to cash in on a bases-loaded opportunity in the sixth, Jones had the clutch run-scoring hit in Everett’s three-run seventh.

“Not only did he have a good week, he’s a good player,” Hulett said. “He’s got a lot of tools. I like the way he handled himself, very professional, and it looks like he has good knowledge of the game.”

The final run for Spokane came when Miguel Velazquez smoked a pitch over the 365-foot sign in left-center in the eighth.

The other AquaSox with a big day was Hawkins Gebbers, a native of Brewster, Wash., and a 33rd-round draft choice out of Biola (Calif.) University. The second baseman went 3 for 4, with a perfect bunt down the third-base line and a scorching double into the left-field corner, and scored twice.

Jones delayed signing, but going back to LIU to work on his athletic training degree was a last resort.

“I was trying to get more money, but I figured it would be better to come and sign, progress and improve,” he said.

Jones, the highest selection to come out of LIU and the Northeast Conference, hit .364 with nine homers and 32 RBIs as a junior.

“I struggled a little bit,” he said. “I was streaky at times. Sometimes it was pitching, sometimes it was hitting.”

His sophomore season, he hit .309 and led the Blackbirds’ pitching staff with an earned run average of 4.91.

“Before the season it was looking more as a pitcher (as a professional), but the Mariners saw me more as a batter,” the 6-foot-3, 185-pound lefty from Brooklyn said. “I wasn’t surprised.”