Boscan’s good night gets better
When the game was over, Spokane Indians starter Wilfredo Boscan’s outing looked solid enough.
Just two runs scored on his watch, and though he allowed the Eugene Emeralds six hits, his level-headed pitching earned him a 5-3 Northwest League victory on Sunday.
But when the players were off the field and the grounds crew was cleaning up Avista Stadium, officials decided to change a third-inning Eugene hit to an Indians fielding error, and Boscan’s outing turned impressive.
His earned runs dropped to zero on the night, one of his allowed hits erased.
Quickly becoming a star on the mound, the 18-year-old registered his fifth win this season. Boscan leads the Northwest League in wins.
“Even though I gave up a couple, I’m still very confident,” the Maracaibo, Venezuela, native said through an interpreter. “I prepare mentally before I throw. There’s really no pressure.”
It was good for the Indians (15-5) that Boscan performed. After three home runs in the first two innings, Spokane’s offense dried up.
In the seventh inning, reliever Tim Murphy came in to seal up the win. He gave up Eugene’s only earned run, in the top of the eighth, and recorded a save.
Indians manager Tim Hulett said he was at least glad his team won.
“I’m happy with the pitching performance,” he said. “And we needed it tonight. Even though we scored early and it looked like it was going to be a blowout, it wasn’t. Our pitchers really settled in and did a great job.”
Spokane’s leadoff batter, David Paisano, started the rush in the first inning, smacking the third pitch he saw over the left field fence for a solo homer. Then, in the bottom of the second, Doug Hogan clobbered a solo homer to left field and Jason Ogata soon followed with a three-run bomb the same direction.
Then the blowout disappeared. The Eugene pitchers found their groove and shut down the Indians’ bats for the rest of the night.
The Emeralds (7-13), on the other hand, slowly ate away at Spokane’s lead.
Logan Gelbrich, who finished 3 for 4, started off a hairy third inning with a single to right field. Boscan greeted the next batter, Derek Shunk, with a pitch to the head.
With two on, Joey Railey skipped a grounder under Indians first baseman Dennis Guinn’s glove, and Gelbrich scored from second base. That was the hit officials later turned to an error, boosting Boscan’s pitching performance.
“He is a strike-throwing machine,” Hulett said of Boscan. “I mean that kid can throw strikes at will, he does a good job of commanding the strike zone. Even when they get something off him, he shows great composure and comes back and gets right after the next hitter.”
In the sixth inning, another error – this time by third baseman Matt West – ultimately brought in another Eugene run. And in the eighth inning Bobby Verbick, after hitting a single and reaching second base on a wild pitch by Murphy, made it home on consecutive fielder’s choices.
Murphy sealed the win by striking out the last two batters in the top of the ninth.