Tri-City gets to Spokane starter Case Williams early in loss

The Spokane Indians got down big early Saturday and clawed their way back to within one run late.

But the bullpen faltered and there wasn’t a second comeback.

Tri City No. 9 hitter Kyle Lovelace hit a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning and the visiting Dust Devils beat the Indians 7-4 in a Northwest League game at Avista Stadium.

The Indians (23-23) are 10 games behind Eugene in the NWL second half and 11/2 games behind Vancouver in the overall season record playoff tiebreaker.

Hunter Goodman went 2 for 4 with a double and homer, his fourth in as many games for the Indians. The 22-year-old is hitting .307 with seven homers since his promotion to High-A on July 6 and has 29 homers total this season.

After trailing 4-0 in the second, the Indians made it a one-run game in the seventh. Robby Martin drew a two-out walk, went to third on a bloop hit by Braiden Ward and scored on an infield single by Drew Romo.

With reliever Robinson Hernandez on the hill in the eighth for his second inning, the first two Tri-City batters reached. A sacrifice moved the runners up. With two down, the Indians intentionally walked Christian Sepulveda to face Lovelace.

The Tri-City catcher, hitting .110 on the season, hit a soft liner to short center to score two runs.

Tri-City (19-28) went right away after Indians starter Case Williams. Leadoff hitter Kyren Paris singled and D’Shawn Knowles doubled to the wall in center. The relay throw got away, and Paris hustled in for the game’s first run.

Osmy Gregorio’s ground ball to third got through to score Knowles. Gabe Matthews’ RBI double made it 3-0 after four batters.

The Dust Devils scored again in the second on a two-out RBI double by Gregorio.

The Indians got on the board in the third on a single by Ronaiker Palma and a double high off the left-field wall by Bladimir Restituyo.

Paris erased that run with a solo homer in the fourth, his sixth of the season.

In the bottom half, Goodman just missed a homer by a few feet. He doubled off the top of the wall in left-center and scored on a single by Eddy Diaz to make it 5-2.

Williams retired eight in a row to end his outing. He went six innings and allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk with eight strikeouts, including three of the final four batters he faced. He threw 96 pitches, 73 for strikes.

Goodman’s solo shot in the sixth made it 5-3.