Bats Quiet After First, Indians Drop Series Finale 5-1

SPOKANE, Wash. - Kellen Strahm's leadoff home run excited the Spokane crowd Tuesday night but proved to be the only offense in a tough 5-1 loss for the Indians. Spokane dropped the rubber game of their three-game series to the Tri-City Dust Devils on Baseball Cap Giveaway & Azteca Taco Tuesday presented Pepsi and The Inlander.

TOP PERFORMERS

• Kellen Strahm led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer, his first professional long ball. He also walked twice and upped his OPS to .802 at home.
• Leury Tejada made his first start for Spokane. He labored through three innings, but gave up just one run and struck out three.
• Nic Laio struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings. His ERA is down to 1.62 this season with a whopping 25:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Billy Layne Jr. started his appearance with 15 straight strikes thrown. He finished with 21 of his 25 pitches as strikes, including five strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
• Tri-City utility man Reinaldo Ilarraza stole two more bases, upping his total to 12 on the season for second best in the Northwest League. Tri-City stole 10 bases in the three-game series.
• Luis Asuncion extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the 8^th inning.

KEY MOMENT
Trailing 5-1 in the eighth, Spokane loaded the bases with just one out. Tri-City turned to Dan Dallas out of the bullpen and he came in to strike out Obie Ricumstrict and Cristian Inoa to end the threat and end the inning.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
With a 9-1 win at Vancouver, the Everett AquaSox now have a three-game winning streak and jump into a first place tie with Spokane in the NWL North Division. Tri-City sits a game back of both teams after taking two out of three from the Indians. Spokane and Tri-City take Wednesday off before another three-game series, this time in Pasco. Everett will host Vancouver for three games.
NEXT GAME AT AVISTA STADIUM
The Indians return home to Avista Stadium on Sunday, July 14^th to open a six-game home stand. The Indians start the home stand by welcoming the Everett AquaSox to town for three games starting on Sunday for Dad's Day & Prostate Cancer Awareness presented by Radia, Rock 94 ½, 700 ESPN, and Nspire Magazine. Bring Dad to the ballpark to celebrate all the great things about Dads! All Indians players will be wearing special edition light blue hats that will be auctioned off during the game benefiting local prostate cancer patients through the MultiCare Inland Northwest Foundation. Stick around after the game to play catch on the field with your dad courtesy of Pizza Factory! Gates open at 4:00 PM with first pitch at 5:09 PM. Tickets for all Spokane Indians home game are available to purchase at the Avista Stadium Ticket Office or at SpokaneIndians.com. Reserve your seats today by calling (509) 343-OTTO (6886) or TicketsWest at 1-800-325-SEAT.