The Spokane Indians run to six with an 11-3 win over Hillsboro
Jack Blomgren and Austin Bernard had three hits each, and the Spokane Indians beat the Hillsboro Hops 11-3 in the third game of a six-game High-A West series on Friday at Avista Stadium.
The Indians (48-44) have beaten the hops (42-50) in three games in a row, winning six in a row and eleven of the last 14 games. The winning streak is the longest of the season for Spokane.
“It’s definitely nice to be on a winning team,” said Bernard. “Nobody likes to lose. We’re just seven games back in the playoff race, so the team lit a fire and we’re excited. “
The Indians hit 15 hits, five for extra bases, and all but one batter in the line-up took one hit.
“I think it’s kind of wear and tear on us as baseball players when other people do good things,” said Blomgren. “They kind of see it and we want to do it just like them, so it all works as a whole.”
Will Ethridge (2-5), a 2019 round fifth pick, made his 10th start for Spokane. He went six innings, allowing two runs with four hits and one walk with four strikeouts. He threw 77 pitches, 54 for strikes.
“Will came out and did a great job throwing strikes,” said Bernard. “He didn’t keep up. Didn’t waste any pitches with any hitters. Tremendous stuff for us tonight. “
The Indians hit the board in the first inning when Blomgren hit a one-out triple and hit Sullivan on a wild pitch from Collin, making his first start to the season for Hillsboro.
“I’m just very relaxed in the box, I see the ball pretty well,” said Blomgren. “I got myself into some decent counts and found the barrel multiple times, so overall it was a good night for us.”
Spokane broke it open in the second.
Brenton Doyle hit a one-out double, finished third with a Daniel Montano single, and hit a Bernard double.
“First three at-balls, I got three hits, went out and looked for fastballs,” said Bernard. “I have to stick to my approach and I was a little lucky tonight.”
Montano (2 for 3, two runs) has hit 11 of their last 12 games, increasing their average to 0.330 in 24 games with Spokane.
Cade Harris followed with a double run. After Isaac Collins left, Blomgren hemmed a single misplayed by Elijah Green and scored two more runs.
Reached seven consecutive runners before Sullivan was replaced by Gerald Ogando.
Spokane added another run in the third run when Doyle made singles, finished second on a wild pitch, moved up to third on a single from Bernard, and scored a goal with a sacrificial fly.
Hillsboro picked up his first hit of the game in fifth, a single from Blaze Alexander. Nick Dalesandro followed with a single to get the runners into the turns.
A third base hit in a row by Elijah Greene covered the first run of the hops and a second run came with a groundout.
Montano went fifth, came second on a wild pitch from Reliever Bobby Ay and scored the 9-2 after a throwing error after a single from Bernard.
Hillsboro’s Andy Yerzy scored his fourth home run in the last three games, a solo shot, in the eighth inning. It was his 13th of the season.
The Indians added in the lower half. Stovall went single, finished second on a Niko Decolati walk, and scored a goal on a Grant Lavigne single. Montano added a sacrificial fly to make it 11-3.