Spokane Indians drop series finale to Eugene 9-5; head into MLB All-Star break in first | NWL baseball
Jul. 12—EUGENE — Eugene’s Lisbel Diaz hit two two-run home runs and the Spokane Indians lost to the Emeralds 9-5 in the finale of a six-game High-A Northwest League series at PK Park on Sunday.
Diaz finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs. The Indians (14-7) were led by Jacob Hinderleider, who had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs.
Indians outfielder Tommy Hopfe hit the first pitch of the game for a solo home r, his 11th of the season.
Eugene (10-11) pounced on Indians starter Jordy Vargas in the bottom half. Diaz hit a two-out, two-run blast — his third of the week and 13th of the season. Zander Darby followed with a double and Jakob Christian knocked him in with a line -drive single to make it 3-1.
Diaz went deep again in the third, another two-run shot, for his second career two-home -run game in High-A.
The Indians cut into the deficit in the fourth. Alan Espinal drew a one-out walk and, with two down, Hinderleider connected for his sixth home run of the season to make it 5-3.
Darby made it a four-run game again in the fifth, delivering his first home run since May 27 — yet another two-run homer — ending Vargas’ appearance after 80 pitches.
The 22-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs, all earned, on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 42/3 innings.
The Indians picked up a run in the sixth on a two-out single by Hinderleider, but with runners at the corners Kevin Fitzer struck out to quash the burgeoning rally.
They added another run in the seventh. Tevin Tucker led off with a single, stole second base and scored on a one-out infield single by Roynier Hernandez. But Ethan Hedges flied out and Tanner Thach grounded out to limit the damage.
The Ems got a run back in the bottom half on an RBI single by Carlos Gutierrez and tacked on another in the eighth on Christian’s eighth home run of the season.
The league is off for the MLB All-Star break until Friday. The Indians host a three-game set against Everett starting Friday at 6:35 p.m.
