In a tough series finale, the Spokane Indians fell 8-1 to the first-place Eugene Emeralds on Sunday at PK Park, dropping five of six in the High-A Northwest League matchup.
Eugene's Gavin Kilen starred at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the Emeralds (21-6) to another win over the last-place Indians (9-18). Spokane has now lost nine of its last 12 games and hasn't won a series since opening the season with a three-game set against Everett.
The game's pivotal moment came in the third inning when Kilen singled and Dakota Jordan followed with a towering opposite-field home run—his league-leading sixth of the season. That gave Eugene a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish.
Spokane's offense struggled to get going early. The Indians didn't record their first base runner until Jacob Humphrey drew a two-out walk in the fourth inning, but Ethan Hedges flied out to end the inning. Humphrey led off the seventh with a single and stole second, but Hedges flied out again, and reliever Brayan Palencia struck out Alan Espinal and Max Belyeu to keep Spokane scoreless.
Eugene broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh. With runners at the corners and no outs, Trevor Cohen stole second, and Kilen delivered a single through the right side to plate both runners. A throwing error allowed Jordan to reach, and Kilen later scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
The Indians finally got on the board in the eighth when Robert Calaz—the Colorado Rockies' No. 5 prospect—crushed a solo home run to left field, his second of the season and first since April 5. Roynier Hernandez followed with a one-out double but was left stranded.
Eugene answered with three more runs in the bottom half off reliever Hunter Mann, whose ERA climbed to 6.28 after his eighth appearance of the season.
On a positive note, Rockies pitcher Jeff Criswell made a rehab appearance for Spokane, tossing a perfect first inning with two strikeouts on 17 pitches. Eugene starter Jacob Bresnahan was sharp as well, striking out six over 4⅓ no-hit innings.
The Indians will look to bounce back Tuesday when they open a six-game series against Tri-City at 11:05 a.m. at Avista Stadium for their second "Education Day" game.