Valdespina, Rua send Indians past Bears

YAKIMA, Wash. - Jose Valdespina pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five as the Spokane Indians beat the Yakima Bears 9-0 in Northwest League baseball Saturday night in front of 2,281 at Yakima County Stadium.

Spokane (10-15 second half) opened the scoring in the first inning as Christopher Garia singled leading off the game and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Rua for a 1-0 lead.

Joe Maloney doubled with one out in the second and scored on a groundout by Garia to give Spokane a 2-0 lead.

Preston Beck hit a two-run single to right field to score Patrick Cantwell and Rua to stretch the lead to 4-0. Former Gonzaga standout Royce Bolinger also had two RBIs for Spokane.

Rua hit a two-run homer in the seventh for Spokane, which finished 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

Spokane hosts Tri-City in a three-game series starting tonight at 6:30 at Avista Stadium.