Bears Win Slugfest In Boise 10-8

The Yakima Bears beat the Boise Hawks 10-8 Wednesday at Memorial Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The three-game series between the Bears and Hawks is now tied at 1-1 and the season series is tied at 4-4.

The Hawks scored two runs in the first inning off of Bears starting pitcher Cody Wheeler. One of those two runs was unearned and Wheeler left with the game tied – after two innings. Wheeler gave up two hits and a walk in his second-shortest start of the season. The game was tied when Wheeler left thanks t       o a sacrifice fly from Steven Rodriguez and a RBI triple by Mark Ginther in the top of the second inning.

The Bears would take the lead for the first time in the third inning, as back-to-back singles by Yogey Perez-Ramos and Kevin Medrano came in front of a three-run home run by Shaun Cooper. After the Hawks scored a run in the third inning, Michael Lang reached on a single and scored on a Perez-Ramos single in the fourth inning to put the Bears on top 6-3. The Hawks tied the game at 6-6 after a run in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the seventh. The Bears broke that tie in the eighth inning with two-out RBI-singles from Ginther and Michael Lang. A two-run home run by the Hawks in the bottom of the eighth inning tied the game at 8-8, but Cooper came up big for the Bears again in the ninth. After a one-out single by Kevin Medrano, Cooper hit a triple to put the Bears in front for good, and he would score on a Wagner Mateo single to move the score to 10-8.

Four pitchers came out of the pen for Yakima. Chase Brewer lasted three innings, Blake Forslund one and a third innings, Victor Capellan one and two thirds innings, and all three gave up two earned runs. Capellan got the win and is now 4-1 with the Bears in 2012. RJ Hively had a 1-2-3 ninth inning and now has four saves on the season.

Shaun Cooper went 3-for-5 with a double, triple, home run, four runs batted in and two runs scored. Kevin Medrano also had three hits, raising his league-best batting average to .350. Perez-Ramos, Mateo, Ginther, and Lang all had two-hit games. The Bears offense tied a season-high with 10 runs, having reached that mark five times in 2012.

The Bears and Hawks finish the three-game set Thursday, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 pacific time. Right-handed pitchers Blake Perry of the Bears and Jose Arias of the Hawks are expected to be the starters.