Spokane, WA - Something's got to give. That sentiment is surely running through the head of every Indians player and fan after yet another painful defeat. Spokane took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning, and looked poised to end their six game losing streak, but eventually fell to the Emeralds 4-2 in the 10th inning at Avista Stadium.
New arrival C.J. Edwards was terrific in his first start of the season for the Indians, allowing just one unearned run in five innings while showing preternatural poise on the mound for a 20-year-old. The hard-throwing Edwards was in line for the win after Saquan Johnson smacked a two-run homer over the Dairy Queen sign in the fifth inning, giving Spokane a 2-1 lead it would hold until the ninth.
The indomitable Cody Kendall kept the Emeralds off the board in the sixth and seventh innings, and Josh McElwee followed with a scoreless frame to move the Indians within three outs of victory. Those final outs proved elusive though, as a sacrifice fly from Eugene's Dave Phillips off McElwee sent the game to extra-innings.
Normally reliable Carlos Melo (0-1) coughed up two runs in the 10th inning, and the Indians were retired in order in the bottom of the frame to end a disheartening night that just innings before seemed so promising.
Johnson, Christopher Garia, Gabriel Roa, Royce Bolinger, Patrick Cantwell, and Smerling Lantigua all picked up hits in the loss.
Tomorrow's game is the third game of a five game series against Eugene.
