Brody Brecht, Stu Flesland solid on the hill, Spokane Indians top Vancouver 5-3 in series opener | NWL baseball

Apr. 14—Brody Brecht is the type of pitcher big league teams dream about. At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, he has the physique of a football player — because he was that, too, at the University of Iowa. He possesses a big fastball, routinely hitting 96 mph, and three other average-to-plus pitches, including a quality late-breaking slider.

But as is often the case with young pitchers, he still struggles with control and how best to use his pitches in game situations.

In a rare day game Tuesday, with "feels like" temperatures at 11 a.m. in the 30s and a stiff breeze blowing right-to-left, Brecht seemed to put some things together. Maybe the weather made him feel like it was a Big 10 football game.

Brecht struck out six over three innings, Spokane native Stu Flesland provided four solid innings in relief and the Spokane Indians beat the Vancouver Canadians 5-3 in the first of a six-game High-A Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Tuesday.

The early start was due to the team's "Education Day" promotion, with hundreds of Spokane-area elementary school kids in attendance.

After losing four of six last week, the win gets the week off to a good start.

"Every day is a new day. And guys came ready to play today and got it done," Indians manager Tom Sutaris said. "We got real good pitching and we got some big, big hits ... I think sometimes when you press as a unit, it kind of gets tougher for everybody. I think we have a lot of length in our lineup, and we have a lot of good players that are going to help us win games."

Brecht allowed one run on three hits and a walk. He threw a total of 57 pitches, 37 for strikes. Flesland piggybacked on Brecht's start and allowed two runs in his last inning of work, scattering five hits with no walks and three strikeouts earning the win.

"It felt good, good to get back out there and pitch in this great ballpark," Brecht said. "I was excited for the opportunity to go out there. ... I don't know if it was 11 a.m. or the cold, but (Vancouver) never seemed to really adjust to the heater. So I was able to just kind of establish that and trust in that."

"I thought (Brecht) was really sharp. I thought he was really crisp," Sutaris said. "He had good tempo. He had good rhythm on the mound. I thought he was in attack mode."

Brecht showed some of the promise of being selected 38th overall in the 2024 MLB draft and his No. 8 ranking in the Colorado Rockies minor league system in his first start last week in Hillsboro. The 23-year-old righty struck out four over 2 2/3 innings, but he allowed three runs on two hits and two walks, throwing 27 of his 49 pitches for strikes.

Brecht put two on with one out in the first. Dub Gleed hit a hard liner to right that turned outfielder Robert Calaz around, but the Colorado Rockies' No. 5 ranked prospect made the catch while falling to his backside. He was much more efficient in the second, recording a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of swinging Ks.

Kelvin Hidalgo put the Indians on the board in the bottom of the second with a wind-aided solo home r in front of the giant video board in left center. The 21-year-old shortstop from Dominican Republic came in hitting .161 through his first eight games.

Brecht struck out two more in the third, but an infield single and triple off the glove of first baseman Tommy Hopfe allowed the Canadians to tie it 1-1.

"Everybody can be great, you know, every once in a while," Brecht said. "I want to be great every time I go out there. So it just starts with sticking to my process and as we continue to build up, going deeper in the games."

The Indians loaded the bases in the fifth with three consecutive one-out singles. Hidalgo hustled home on a wild pitch, then Jacob Humphrey walked to load them back up again, prompting a pitching change. But Max Belyeu's hard liner to left was tracked down by JR Freethy to end the inning.

Indians catcher Alan Espinal launched a two-out, three-run home run in the sixth — his first of the season — to make it 5-1.

Flesland cruised through his first three innings of work. But Kendry Chirinos led off the seventh with a homer through the wind to right center, his first of the season. The next batter, Matt Scannell, hit one off the top of the wall in the same vicinity and later scored on a single by No. 9 hitter Tucker Toman.

With two down, Carter Cunningham hit the hardest ball of the inning, but it flew straight into the 20-plus mph wind coming in from right. Calaz settled underneath it at the warning track to keep it at 5-3 at the stretch.

"Stu is steady. You know what you're getting every time," Sutaris said. "He wasn't even the sharpest today, but he's always going to give you a good outing."

Francis Rivera tossed two scoreless for his second save of the season.

The series continues Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.