Bears complete sweep of Indians
The Spokane Indians were unable to stop their losing streak as they were swept for a second consecutive series.
Adam Howard pitched a three-hitter to lead the Yakima Bears to a 6-2 win over Spokane in front of a sell-out crowd of 7,321 at Avista Stadium Friday.
Howard, who has only given up one walk all year, kept the Indians off balance and painted the corners for seven innings to earn his second victory in five starts.
“Best pitcher we’ve faced all year,” said Indians manager Greg Riddoch, whose team now travels to Everett mired in a six-game losing skid. “He knows how to pitch. He was keeping them off balance, locating pitches and changing speeds. He’s a finesse pitcher.”
Out of the three hits the 22-year-old gave up, two were solo home runs by Steve Murphy and John Mayberry Jr. Howard, who had a perfect game going through 3 2/3 innings, struck out six and lowered his ERA to 2.70.
In the bottom of the fourth, Murphy broke up Howard’s perfect game as he connected with a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his league-leading sixth home run.
Three Bears pitchers held the Indians to four hits, as Yakima went on to get 15.
“Fifteen to four tells the story,” said Riddoch, who felt his starter was just as good but did not have the same luck. “Right now they (the Indians) are going through a period where everything is falling for the other team. Every team goes through bad stretches; we just have to ride it out. We’ll get our turn.”
Doug Mathis, who struck out five of the first six batters he faced, ended up taking the loss as he gave up five runs and 10 hits in five innings. He struck out eight, but gave up three consecutive singles and a double in the fourth that allowed two runs to score.
In the fifth, he gave up five hits – a double and four consecutive singles that scored three runs to make it 5-1.
“That’s the way it goes,” Mathis said. “It wasn’t fun, but it was funny. I was throwing well, but stuff happened.”
The Indians (10-13) are three games under .500 as they begin a five-game series against the AquaSox today. They are three games behind East division-leading Tri-City in a three-way tie for second place and return home Thursday for a three-game set versus Tri-City.
Notes
At the start of the game, Steve Murphy was leading the league in home runs (5), runs batted-in (21) and slugging percentage (.678). Murphy was also second in hits (32) and fourth in batting average (.356). … According to Indians spokesman Jared Rose, a faulty breaker in the lights behind the left-field bleachers was to blame for Thursday night’s 14 minute delay.