Canadians' bats too hot for Indians

SPOKANE - Vancouver first baseman Kevin Patterson went 2 for 5 with two RBIs and scored twice as the Canadians defeated the Spokane Indians 9-7 in front of 6,876 in the second of their five-game Northwest League baseball series Friday night at Avista Stadium.

Vancouver jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, keyed by a two-run single from Patterson as Spokane committed two errors. Spokane battled back to tie the game at 4 in the bottom of the first with three straight hits, capped by a two-run home run from Brett Nicholas.

Vancouver (13-9) regained the lead on a two-run home run by Garrett Maines in the third. Stephen McQuail hit a two-run double to right field and advanced on a throwing error in the fourth inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly to give Vancouver a 9-4 lead.

Spokane (12-10) battled to within 9-7 on RBIs from Jorge Alfaro and Hanser Alberto, but Vancouver reliever Jonathan Jones got Braxton Lane to fly out to end the game.

The teams continue their series tonight at Avista starting at 6:30.