David Perez pitches Indians past Salem-Keizer

Nobody at Avista Stadium on Friday night – and more than 7,000 people were in attendance – would have wagered that David Perez was on his way to a win after watching him pitch to the first six batters.

But that’s exactly what happened as Perez, aided by the Spokane Indians’ sterling defense, shrugged off a nightmarish start to earn his first win since 2012 during an 11-5 decision over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

Perez (1-0) opened his night with four walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches as the packed crowd voiced its derision.

But after walking in two runs – and facing a one-out, bases-loaded situation – Perez’s luck changed. Indians right fielder Luke Tendler hauled in Dylan Davis’ fly ball and threw home to get Christian Arroyo for an inning-ending double play.

The Indians responded with a three-run bottom of the first and Perez answered with four consecutive shutout innings, throwing 97 pitches in his longest outing of the Northwest League season.

“(Tendler) made my night tonight,” Perez said.

“(The defense) helped me a lot. When you pitch with that defense, you are pretty comfortable and you have the confidence that they can hit the ball because you know they’re going to catch the ball.”

“Everything kind of went (Perez’s) way … when we made some plays behind him,” Indians manager Tim Hulett said. “We threw a guy out at the plate, we caught a line drive and we threw another guy out at the plate. Then he settled in and pitched really well for four innings.”

Spokane won the series 4-1 to earn a 10-game season split with the Volcanoes. The Indians finished 24-13 at Avista Stadium and 18-22 against teams from the South Division.

The North Division first-half champion Indians (40-33 overall, 15-20 second half) will complete the regular season with three games at Vancouver, starting tonight. Vancouver (18-17) holds a one-game lead over Tri-City (17-18) in the race for the second-half title and the chance to host Spokane on Tuesday in Game 1 of the best-of-3 divisional series. Game 2 is Wednesday in Spokane. Game 3, if necessary, will also be at Avista.

Salem-Keizer (37-36) must sweep a three-game series from Boise (39-34) to join Hillsboro as the South’s playoff representatives.

Perez, a fifth-year pro who started nine games for the 2011 Indians, last earned a win while pitching for Spokane in 2012.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander loaded the bases with nobody out in the second, but second baseman Josh Morgan made a fine leaping grab for the first out and Perez assisted on the second out by covering home on Jose Trevino’s passed ball as Hunter Cole attempted to score.

Trouble averted, Perez struck out two apiece in the third, fourth and fifth, punctuating the end of innings with fist pumps.

“I was really, really emotional,” Perez said. “That point I have to control a little more. But that happens and I enjoyed it.”

Attendance record

Spokane’s largest crowd of the season, 7,072, allowed the Indians to break a pair of attendance records.

The Indians attracted 193,865 fans in 37 home dates to break the record of 187,371 set in 2007. Spokane also averaged 5,240 fans to break the mark of 5,064 set last year. The Indians drew crowds of 7,000 or more five times this summer.