Spokane Indians fall behind early, can’t dig out of hole in 7-2 loss at Eugene

EUGENE – After a bit of a rocky start, Spokane Indians starting pitcher Josh Grosz settled in and kept his team within striking distance. But the early hole proved too much for the slumping Indians offense to overcome.

Eugene starter Josh Bostick struck out six over six innings for the win, reliever Darian Smith struck out four in a three-inning save, and the Indians fell to the Emeralds 7-2 in the second of a six-game High-A Northwest League series at PK Park on Wednesday.

First-place Eugene (28-9) got all the runs they needed in the second inning against Grosz, making his second start since the trade that brought him over from the New York Yankees organization.

Jack Payton led the inning off with a ground-rule double and scored on a one-out homer by Zane Zielinski, his third of the season. Jean Carlos Sio singled and Damian Bravo walked, then No. 9 hitter Luke Shliger laced a double into the right field corner to bring in both runners to make it 4-0.

The Indians (19-18) got on the board in the fourth, when Cole Messina walked, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a double by Andy Perez.

Eugene added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings to make it 6-1.

In the eighth, Indians third baseman Jean Perez launched a solo homer over the bullpen in left, his sixth homer of the season.

But Eugene took advantage of a couple of Spokane errors to add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth.

Grosz allowed five earned runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts. He threw 93 pitches, 51 for strikes. Relievers Alan Perdomo and Bryson Hammer both allowed a run in short stints.

The series continues Thursday at 6:35 p.m.