Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009

Dust Devils hang on for 11-6 victory in Spokane

From Herald news services

SPOKANE -- The bats of the Spokane Indians once again remained silent far too long at Avista Stadium on Monday night.

And the Indians paid for their early lack of pop at the plate with yet another Northwest League setback, this one an 11-6 loss to East Division-leading Tri-City.

Spokane (3-7), after spotting the Dust Devils (8-2) a nine-run lead, teased a crowd of 3,129 by batting around and scoring six times in the bottom of the eighth inning. But the comeback attempt failed to prevent the Indians from being tagged with their fifth consecutive loss.

"It's tough," admitted former WSU standout Jared Prince, who was used as a designated hitter and contributed a two-run double to Spokane's big eighth inning. "We keep letting teams put a big spot up early, and we're having trouble clawing our way back."

Tri-City picked up three runs off Spokane starter Kyle Ocampo (0-1) in the second inning on just two hits, then did even more damage in the fourth, chasing Ocampo by bunching together five hits -- including a two-run home run by Michael Zuanich -- to score four more times and build a 7-0 lead.

The Dust Devils added two more runs in the top of the eighth on a run-scoring triple by Joseph Sanders and a wild pitch, and then answered Spokane's outburst in the bottom of the inning with two runs in the ninth -- the last of which came on Zuanich's second home run of the game, a solo shot to left field.