Bad bounce hurts Indians
The Spokane Indians might have limited their misery in the first inning Saturday if not for a bad bounce. Read game story
One key play in the first inning defined the Indians' poor luck on Saturday.
Vancouver led 1-0 with one out and runners at second and third base when Sean Hurley bounced a grounder toward Indians shortstop Yeyson Yrizarri. What could have been the second out instead became a two-run single when the ball took an unexpected hop and caromed into left field.
"I think the runner (Ryan Hissey) let it go through, but it took a wild hop," Indians manager Tim Hulett said. "It was a really bad hop. It almost hit (Yrizarri) in the face. It should have been a waist-high bounce and it ended up almost hitting him in the face."
Under normal circumstances, the Indians would have trailed 2-0 with two outs and a runner at third base. Instead, it was 3-0 with one out and Hurley at first.
Everything fell apart after that as Indians center fielder LeDarious Clark, third baseman Ti'Quan Forbes and Yrizarri committed errors to help the Canadians pile up seven runs.
"We had that hop. We missed the double-play ball (by Yrizarri) and we missed at third base (by Forbes)," Hulett said. "When you're not pitching well, you need to make a play like that to get out of the inning and we didn't do that."
