Nicolino's 9 strikeouts lift Canadians past Tribe

| July 10, 2011 9:00 PM

SPOKANE - Justin Nicolino had eight strikeouts over four hitless innings for Vancouver as the Candians defeated the Spokane Indians 3-1 in front of 4,879 in a Northwest League baseball game Saturday at Avista Stadium.

Nicolino finished with nine strikeouts over five innings to lower his ERA to 1.13 in five starts.

Bryan Kervin opened the scoring in the third inning with an RBI single to score Garrett Maines to give Vancouver (14-9) a 1-0 lead.

Spokane second baseman Edwin Garcia singled to break up the no-hit bid with two out in the fifth.

Spokane pulled to within 2-1 as Zachary Cone singled and came around to score on a wild pitch by Vancouver reliever Shane Davis. Spokane (12-11) went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

The teams meet again at Avista tonight at 6:30.