Spokane Indians shut down by Everett pitching, fall 4-0 in third game of series

Victor Labrada went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and the Everett AquaSox beat the Spokane Indians 4-0 in the third game of a six-game High-A Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Thursday.

The first-place Indians, who fell to 23-17, entered the night with a three-game lead over Hillsboro.

Indians starter Evan Shawver gave up one run on four hits, walking one and striking out three over six innings in his fourth start of the season .

“A little slow start with his pitch execution,” Indians pitching coach Ryan Kibler said of Shawver. ” But when he started sequencing his pitches better from the third inning on, I thought he was outstanding.”

Everett starter Prelander Berroa was even better.

The 22-year-old, acquired by the Seattle Mariners on May 11 in a trade with the San Francisco Giants for infielder Donovan Walton, allowed one hit and one walk and struck out nine. A converted reliever who the Mariners plan to stretch out as a starter, Berroa threw 42 of his 59 pitches for strikes.

Kibler said some guys have a tough time trading zeros when the opposition is dominating in that fashion.

“It adds the pressure, it does,” he said. “You feel like you’re doing as much as you can and there’s not much to show for it. But no, (Shawver) is that type of guy. He’s a competitor. He’s an athlete. And yeah, I think it keeps him sharp.”

The AquaSox (17-23) scored in the fourth with two outs . Justin Lavey hustled his way to a double on a soft liner to left field and came around on a single by Victor Labrada.

“The run (Shawver) gave up, those are two pretty weak hits,” Kibler said. “The left-hander (Labrada) had his butt out and got to it, somehow got the barrel to it to drive it down the line, but I thought (Shawver) was really good.”

Spokane’s Daniel Montano extended his hitting streak to nine games with a line-drive single in the seventh inning.

Montano is hitting .551 (16 for 29) during the streak.

Julio Carreras followed with a walk and Ronaiker Palma’s single up the middle loaded the bases with one out.

But Bladimir Restituyo was caught looking and Cristopher Navarro grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

The AquaSox made good on their opportunity in the eighth against reliever Shelby Lackey.

With a runner at first and one down, back-to-back singles by Lavey and Labrada scored one run, then James Palmer roped a double to the right-center gap to score them both and make it 4-0.

After four straight scoreless appearances in May, Lackey has given up runs in his past two.

“(Lackey) got off to a good start with his fastball … then had some big misses later,” Kibler said. “His slider was the mainstay and the stabilizer for him all year long until the past couple outings.

“He’s got to make some adjustments and get it done.”