Spokane Indians held to one hit in 5-1 loss to Hillsboro
Aug. 14—Chad Patrick combined with two relievers to throw a one-hitter and the Hillsboro Hops beat the visiting Spokane Indians 5-1 in the finale of a six-game High-A Northwest League series at Ron Tonkin Field on Sunday.
The Indians (21-20) started play 1.5 games ahead of Vancouver (23-17) in the overall season record playoff tiebreaker. Eugene (27-14), the first-half champ, leads the C's by 3 1/2 games in the NWL second half.
Patrick went four innings and allowed one run on one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts. Avery Short tossed two shutout innings, allowed just one walk, and Justin Martinez pitched the final three innings for his first save of the season.
Indians starter Mason Green (1-3) got into hot water immediately, walking the first two batters he faced in the first inning.
A.J. Vukovich followed with a liner into the right field corner that bounced over the fence for an RBI ground-rule double. The Hops (18-24) got two more runs in the inning on a groundout and an RBI single by Gary Mattis.
Spokane got on the board in the second. Hunter Goodman walked and Colin Simpson hit a soft liner for a single — the only Spokane hit of the day. Eddy Diaz offered a sacrifice bunt, but Patrick threw it down the line, everyone was safe and Goodman scored.
Green's struggles continued in the second inning as Deyvison De Los Santos clubbed a two-out, two-run double to make it 5-1.
Green's day was done after two. All told, he allowed five runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts. He threw 56 pitches, 34 for strikes.
The rest was up to the Hillsboro bullpen, as the Indians put runners on in the sixth, seventh and eighth via walks, but couldn't find a base hit the rest of the way.
Indians relievers were sharp as well. Boby Johnson struck out five in four innings, allowing just one hit, and Adam McKillican provided two scoreless frames.
Spokane starts a six-game series against Tri-City at Avista Stadium on Tuesday at 12:05 p.m.
