Gabriel Hughes roughed up in fifth inning; Spokane Indians drop opener to league-leading Eugene

From staff reports

EUGENE – Ghordy Santos and Grant McCray, both hitting under .200 for the season, hit home runs in the fifth inning and the Eugene Emeralds beat the Spokane Indians 11-6 in the opener of a six-game Northwest League series at PK Park.

League-leading Eugene improved to 13-8 and the Indians fell to 9-10.

Jordan Beck and Zach Kokoska hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning for the Indians. Beck is 9 for 22 (.409) in his past five games with four homers.

Indians starter Gabriel Hughes was nearly perfect through the first four innings, allowing just two hits and no walks.

In the fifth, Hughes got two outs on two pitches, but the third consecutive first-pitch swing was a solo homer by Santos. It only got worse from there.

Damon Dues singled and McCray hit a long two-run homer to tie the score at 3. Aeverson Arteaga doubled and Jared Dupere reached on a passed ball on strike three.

Logan Wyatt singled in a run, Victor Bericoto doubled, and Hughes walked Adrian Sugastey to load the bases, his last batter of his appearance.

Manager Robinson Cancel brought in Joel Condreay, who allowed a two-run double and walked the next two batters to load the bases and force in a run.

Eugene sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning and scored eight runs.

Hughes (1-2) went 4⅔ innings and allowed eight runs on eight hits, striking out eight and walking one. He threw 80 pitches, 55 for strikes. His ERA ballooned to 7.71.

Spokane’s Sterlin Thompson, who left Sunday’s game early, missed the game with injury. Thompson is second in the league with a .463 average and leads the league with 18 RBIs.

Infielder Ben Sems and RHP Tyler Ras were added to roster. Infielder Cristopher Navarro was promoted to Double-A Hartford.