Kauffman Shines, Spokane Picks up First Victory

SPOKANE, Wash. – Karl Kauffman’s strong debut and two big Indians’ home runs in the middle innings gave Spokane their first win of the season in a 10-6 victory over the Eugene Emeralds on Saturday night.

Spokane used a two-run fourth inning and a six-run fifth inning to grab an 8-0 advantage and then held off a late-charging Emeralds offense in the final innings.

­TOP PERFORMERS

• *Karl Kauffmann *impressed in his professional debut. The #18 prospect in the Rockies’ farm system threw five no-hit innings and faced the minimum 15 batters in his first game since throwing for the Michigan Wolverines in the College World Series in 2019. The righty also struck out a trio of Emeralds.
• *Michael Toglia *added to his High-A West lead with his fourth home run of the season. He also reached base three times via walk, his third straight multi-walk performance.
• *Cade Harris *picked the right moment for his first hit of the season. His three-run homer busted open the game in the sixth.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Brenton Doyle walked three times in a game for the first time in his professional career. He came around to score three runs, one shy of a career-high.
• Each of the first three Indians base runners got thrown out on the base paths, two caught stealing and another picked off.
• With the win, Spokane avoided their first 0-5 start since 2006 when they began the season with five-straight losses to Salem-Keizer.

KEY MOMENT

With two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth, Cade Harris stepped up and launched a three-run shot to the left of the Coors Light Caboose to break open the game and give Spokane an 8-0 lead. They would need those insurance runs, with Eugene scoring three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to close the gap. Shelby Lackey closed the door without any further damage.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

The Vancouver Canadians beat the Tri-City Dust Devils, 4-2, and will look to split that six-game series in Sunday’s finale. The Everett AquaSox shut out the Hillsboro Hops, 3-0, behind 18 strikeouts from their pitching staff.

NEXT GAME AT AVISTA STADIUM

The Spokane Indians and Eugene Emeralds conclude their six-game series this evening, with first pitch at 5:09 p.m. Sunday’s game will be an Opening Day rematch with Spokane’s Helcris Olivarez back on the mound against Eugene’s Caleb Kilian. Gates open at 4:00 PM. Tickets for all Spokane Indians home games are available to purchase online at SpokaneIndians.com.