Dust Devils turn back rally, add to Indians’ woes on road

From staff reports

PASCO – Success on the road continues to elude the Spokane Indians in the second half of the season.

D’Shawn Knowles hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning, and Tri-City secured a 4-3 win over the Indians in the opener of a three-game Northwest League series at Gesa Stadium on Friday.

Spokane, which fell to 1-6 away from home since the season’s midway point, erased a three-run deficit and knotted the score at 3-3 with Nic Kent’s two-run single in the top of the seventh.

The momentum didn’t last, however. Myles Emmerson tripled off Spokane reliever Anderson Bido to lead off the bottom half of the inning, and Knowles followed with a double to right field to take a one-run lead.

Spokane’s Benny Montgomery and Sterlin Thompson led off the ninth with consecutive walks, but Montgomery was thrown out at third on Ryan Ritter’s bunt. Zach Kokoska then lined into a game-ending double play.

The Dust Devils’ Gustavo Campero hit a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.

Ramirez hit a two-out RBI triple in the fourth, and Matt Coutney’s RBI single with two outs in the fifth provided a 3-0 advantage.

Spokane tallied its first run in the sixth with Bryant Quijada’s RBI single with two outs.

Indians starting pitcher Connor Van Scoyoc allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Moving up: Outfielder Jordan Beck was promoted to Double-A Hartford. Beck, 22, hit .292/.378/.566 with 20 home runs, 72 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 76 games with the Indians this year. Beck was leading the NWL in homers and RBIs upon his promotion.

Injured: Former Gonzaga and Indians right-handed pitcher Gabriel Hughes was placed on the seven-day injured list by Hartford on Friday. Hughes went 4-3 with a 5.50 ERA in eight starts with 54 strikeouts in 37 innings for Spokane this season.