Michael Toglia Homers, Spokane Indians clear 4-run deficit to beat Vancouver Canadians 8-6
The home team is making a habit of winning from behind at the Avista Stadium.
Michael Toglia hit a homer in three runs, his leading 14th in the league, and the Spokane Indians came back to beat the Canadian guests from Vancouver in the first of a six-game High-A West series on Tuesday at Avista Stadium with 8- 6 beat.
The Indians (34-39) were 4-0 behind after the first seven hits of the game. They rallied for three runs in the sixth inning and four in the seventh.
“We have a lot of confidence when we get out early. We know we have a chance to come back,” said Toglia. “But it would be nice to jump on them and take the lead early.”
The win gives Spokane a one-game lead over the Canadians and places them third in the league.
“This is an important series,” said Toglia. “If we can get four or five. I mean six would be nice. That would be enormous momentum for the future. But we have to win tomorrow before we do that. “
“We have a lot more baseball to play,” said Kyle Datres. “If we just get into a rhythm and we all put something together, the hitters and the pitchers play well on the same day, anything can happen.”
After a 5-1 deficit in the sixth inning, Daniel Montano led the home half with a double, his second hit of the evening. Niko Decolati pulled a 10-pitch walk to spawn Toglia, the league’s RBI leader.
The switch-hitter, who hit with his right hand, shot you out of the galley behind the right center wall.
“As a hitter you want to be proud to use the entire field,” said Toglia. “And if you can start by giving the whole field a little power, it’s really fun.”
“They just sit there and say, ‘All he has to do is throw a ball in the air and we’re back to his father ball game,'” said Indian manager Scott Little.
The Indians drew three free passes against aide Will McAffer, but additional basic bids from Daniel Cope and Jack Blomgren were knocked down on the route.
McAffer went to Montano and Decolati to run the seventh.
Tri-City brought Parker Caracci to the game against Toglia, who narrowly missed a flyer into the center, but Montano advanced one base. Aaron Schunk followed with a sacrificial fly that Montano covered to tie it.
Decolati stole second place and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Hunter Stovall pulled a four pitch walk and stole second.
Datres followed left with a line drive single to defeat both and the Indians took the lead 7-5.
“Now that I’m getting a little more consistent with bats, I feel like things are going a little more according to me,” said Datres. “It’s tough when you play here and there and try to be consistent all year round.”
“He hadn’t played, but three or four days a week at most, and he’s the type of guy who spells Big Mike (Toglia) there so he can get a DH every now and then,” Little said. “So (Datres) is a big part of our team and he’s an important part of our team and he’s, you know, he’s just a dirtbag baseball player.”
Datres finished third on a wild pitch and dashed home for a three-run lead after a catcher missed the throw.
“We have two on the single there and then I just tried to add one there,” said Datres. “And then I saw the ball in the dirt, so I drove off and tried to make a difference and luckily it was up to me.”
Dugan Darnell, the sixth Indian hurler of the evening, allowed a run in the ninth run, but nailed his fifth save.
Spokane starter Mitch Kilkenny was hoping to catch a formidable foray into Tri-City last week in which he allowed a run on four hits over seven innings. But Righty, 24, was in trouble from the start.
Five of the first seven thugs reached against Kilkenny and Indians manager Scott Little picked him up after 37 pitches.
“I have a lot of confidence when he goes out there,” said Little. “He just made too many pitches again and we had to take him out of the ball game.”
All in all, Kilkenny gave up four runs on five hits and one walk in two-thirds of an inning. He did not have a strikeout. Two of his last three starts have been an inning or less.
“I mean, it has happened twice now,” Little said. “You don’t make good pitches and, you know, it just seemed like the floodgates were opening. He couldn’t get it, he couldn’t pitch over the plate. “
The Indians got on the board in third on a solo home run by Cade Harris, his fifth of the season.
Meanwhile, the helper Moises Ceja was great. The 25-year-old walked four innings of relief and faced 16 thugs. He didn’t allow runs on three hits a walk with two strikeouts.
“I’ve had Mo a couple of times (on other teams),” said Little. “And he’s reliable. You know he’s had a tough start (this season), his numbers don’t really show how he’s been rolling lately.
“He keeps us in baseball games so we can have a chance to come back.”
Caja ran out of gas in fifth and Little turned to Jake Sommers, who was greeted with a long home run by Philip Clarke on his first pitch, his first of the season.
The Indians stole six bases in the game. Spokane is second in the High-A West with 139.