Starter McCade Brown shines, bullpen falters; Spokane Indians fall to Vancouver 8-4

McCade Brown missed all of the 2023 season recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery. He returned to the mound last year, making just 12 appearances between the Colorado Rockies complex league and Low-A Fresno and pitched to a 6.83 ERA in his first taste of post-surgery action.

The 24-year-old 2021 third-round pick out of Indiana couldn’t have asked for a better start to his 2025 season.

Brown dominated in his three-inning stint, showing off a 97-mph fastball, a difficult-to-pick-up slider and an occasional changeup to retire nine straight batters.

Unfortunately, the pitchers who came after were not as successful.

Jacob Wetzel’s two-run homer spurred a five-run sixth inning, and the Spokane Indians fell to the Vancouver Canadians 8-4 in a Northwest League game at Avista Stadium on Wednesday.

Vancouver (3-2) added three more in the seventh inning while the Indians (2-3) couldn’t muster much offense after a three-run third inning.

Brown struck out the side in the first, got two more – looking – in the second and another in the third. He gave up just three batted balls – a liner to center to end the second inning, and two routine fly outs to left field.

Brown threw 41 pitches, 25 for strikes.

Indians hitters got working in the bottom of the third. Jesus Bugarin reached on an error and went to second when Jean Perez’s soft grounder stayed fair and hit the bag at third. Jared Thomas hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners, then Braylen Wimmer singled to center.

Bugarin scored easily, and when Wetzel fumbled the pickup in short center Thomas raced around and scored ahead of the throw. With two down, Aidan Longwell singled to right to score Wimmer for a 3-0 lead.

The Indians went to the pen in the fourth inning and called upon 2019 Mt. Spokane grad Stu Flesland to make his Avista Stadium debut.

Adrian Pinto greeted the 24-year-old lefty with a double. With two down Je’Von Ward drew a walk, but Flesland picked off Ward to end the inning and escape any damage.

Flesland struck out two in a 1-2-3 fifth inning but ran into trouble in the sixth. Alex Stone bounced a single up the middle leading off, then Wetzel turned on an off-speed pitch and bounced it off the caboose in right-center for a two-run homer.

Three consecutive singles loaded the bases and Ward’s soft liner just got over the infield for an RBI single, tying the game and ending Flesland’s outing.

Manager Robinson Cancel called upon righty Hunter Mann, and he struck out Cutter Coffey but walked Brennan Orf to force in a run. Another run scored on a ground out and the Indians trailed 5-3.

Mann found more trouble in the seventh. He walked consecutive batters to start the inning then Toronto Blue Jays No. 1 prospect Arjun Nimmala doubled off the wall in left-center. The lead runner scored easily; the second came in on shortstop Andy Perez’s throwing error.

Sean Keys followed with a run-scoring double to right to make it 8-3 at the seventh-inning stretch.