Boise’s late rally dooms Spokane

BOISE – A night after the Spokane Indians weathered a late charge from the Boise Hawks, the final stages of Monday night’s game looked much the same.

But a day later, the same situation held a different outcome. Indians pitcher Kevin Johnson walked Pierre LePage with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to score Micah Gibbs – the last of three runs walked in during the ninth inning for the Hawks – handing Boise a dramatic, 11-10 comeback win.

After leading 9-3 through six innings Sunday, Spokane held on for a 12-11 win. This game started the same way for the Hawks, but their late rally flipped the result.

Trailing 10-4 after five innings, the Hawks struck in the sixth on Arismendy Alcantara’s run-scoring single. Boise added one more an inning later, and then cut the deficit to 10-8 in the eighth on a wild pitch from Spokane’s Ryan Rodebaugh and an RBI single from Richard Jones.

In the ninth, the Hawks immediately tagged Rodebaugh with back-to-back singles. Following a walk to load the bases, Johnson came on in relief of Rodebaugh.

But Johnson couldn’t stop the bleeding. Gibbs and Alcantara drew run-scoring walks to knot the game at 10. After Boise’s Alvaro Ramirez grounded into a force out, Johnson walked LePage, allowing Gibbs to trot home for the winning run.

The Indians took control of the game in the third inning. Ryan Strausborger’s RBI triple got the Indians on the board. An inning later, run-scoring singles from Josh Richmond and Santiago Chirino cut the lead to 4-3. An RBI groundout from Kevin Torres leveled the score at 4.

In the fifth, Torres smacked a two-run double to cap a five-run inning for a 10-4 Indians lead.

Boise’s win slices Spokane’s lead in the East Division of the Northwest League to a ½ game.

Also on Monday, Everett clinched a playoff berth by winning the West Division’s first half with a 4-3 victory over Eugene in 10 innings.