Spokane Indians use stellar relief to beat Eugene 3-1

EUGENE – Obie Ricumstrict homered, and three relievers allowed one hit over six innings as the Spokane Indians beat the Eugene Emeralds 3-1 Wednesday in a Northwest League game at PK Park.

Spokane (5-4 second half) got all the offense it needed in the first two innings. Leadoff man Kenan Irizarry reached in the first on an error by Emeralds starter Josh Burgmann (0-2). Irizarry reached third on David Garcia’s single and scored on Blaine Crim’s RBI groundout.

Ricumstrict led off the second with a shot to left-center, giving him a tie for the team lead with five home runs. Ricumstrict also leads the club with 26 RBIs.

Eugene (4-5) did its only damage in the bottom of the frame. Grayson Bird drew a leadoff walk and scored on Alexander Guerra’s double. Luis Vazquez singled, and Caleb Knight bunted to put runners on second and third with one out. Indians starter Billy Layne Jr. worked out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

Layne gave up four hits with three strikeouts over three innings. Leury Tehada (1-1) took over for Layne, yielding one hit in three innings. Nick Starr worked the seventh and eighth innings before Jeifry Nunez struck out two in the ninth for his second save.

Spokane added an insurance run in the seventh when Garcia singled, reached second on a wild pitch and came around on Luis Asuncion’s single.

The Indians had a chance to blow open the game in the ninth, but Chris Kachmar struck out Ricumstrict with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Spokane has taken two of the first three games in Eugene and will aim for a series win in the finale on Thursday.