Spokane Indians routed in Boise, still winless on the road
BOISE – Ryan Metzler collected four hits, drove in three runs and added two stolen bases and the Boise Hawks (8-7) routed the Spokane Indians (4-11) 11-4 on Thursday in Northwest League action.
The Indians have yet to win on the road, losing their seventh straight away from Avista Stadium to start the season. They committed three errors, allowed five stolen bases, went 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.
Metzler had a two-run single in the fifth off Indians starter Tyler Phillips and added an RBI single in the sixth.
Phillips tossed four shutout innings before running into trouble in the fifth, as Boise put up four runs in the frame. In total, Phillips went 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits and no walks with seven strikeouts.
Spokane built a four-run lead early before things turned for the worse.
Clay Middleton delivered a two-out, two-run single in the first inning. The Indians struck again in the third, as Kole Enright seized a bases-loaded opportunity with a two-run single to provide a 4-0 lead.
Boise caught up to Phillips in the fifth. Conner Hale led off with a single and went to second on an error by center fielder Miguel Aparicio. Danny Edgeworth singled, Hale went to third, and Edgeworth took second on the throw.
Cole Anderson singled to plate Hale, and Steven Linkous followed with another RBI single to cut the lead to 4-2. Metzler tied the game at 4-4 with a ground ball single to centerfield to score both runners.
Boise took a 6-4 lead in the sixth on a two-run single by Linkous. Later in the inning, Metzler added to the his stellar offensive night with another RBI single.
Daniel Jipping led off the seventh inning with a home run, his third of the season, to increase the lead to 8-4.
The Boise offense wasn’t finished, as three singles and a walk combined for three additional runs in the eighth inning.
Boise reliever Ryan Luna (1-0) pitched the final six innings and allowed no runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
Spokane’s Yohel Pozo went 3 for 5 with a double and two runs, upping his season average to .326.
The teams meet for the second game of the five-game series on Friday at 6:15 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.