Newcomer Andy Perez sparks comeback; Spokane Indians pull away from Hillsboro 11-3

HILLSBORO, Ore. – Andy Perez – in his first game in High-A – plated the go-ahead run on a squeeze bunt and the Spokane Indians came from behind to beat the Hillsboro Hops 11-3 in the opener of a six-game Northwest League series at Ron Tonkin Field on Tuesday.

The first-place Indians (31-18) trailed 3-1 entering the eighth inning and rallied for five runs. They loaded the bases with no outs on back-to-back singles by EJ Andrews Jr and GJ Hill and a walk to Dyan Jorge. Charlie Condon reached on a infield single to knock in Andrews, then Kyle Karros hit a sacrifice fly to tie it.

With Jorge at third, Perez – a 20-year-old infielder added to the roster earlier in the day from Low-A Fresno – squared and bunted to third baseman Gino Groover, who had to go to first for the out and Jorge scored.

Consecutive walks loaded the bases again, and Jean Perez – who is hitting .452 over 42 at-bats in August – dropped a single to center to drive in two more to make it 6-3.

The Indians dropped five more in the ninth to blow things open.

Indians starter Victor Juarez allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts over six innings. Welinton Herrera, Sam Weatherly and Luis Amoroso each provided one inning of scoreless relief.

Hillsboro (23-26) fell seven games behind Vancouver (30-19) with 17 games remaining in the race for the second half playoff spot.

The series continues Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.