Ross pitches Indians to win
Starter continues strikeout tear
EUGENE, Ore. – Spokane’s Robbie Ross allowed only two hits and struck out five in five scoreless innings for his second win of the season as Spokane defeated Eugene 5-1 in Northwest League baseball Friday night.
That performance followed Ross’ outing last week against Vancouver when he struck out 10 in five scoreless innings. He has struck out 39 in 25 1/3 innings pitched this season.
The 5-foot-11 left-hander was a second-round pick out of Lexington (Kent.) Christian Academy last year but is in his first pro season because he did not sign with the Rangers until close to the signing deadline in August.
Eugene’s two hits off Ross were singles by Dean Anna in the first inning and Edinson Rincon in the fourth, but Ross got inning-ending double plays in both innings.
“What’s weird is I didn’t really feel that great tonight,” said Ross, who turned 20 last month. “My fastball didn’t feel like it was working and my change-up was kind of off. I just had some innings when my infield worked for me and got some double plays.”
Spokane (9-12) got on the board first with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a pair of Eugene errors.
Aja Barto made it 3-0 with a solo homer to right off reliever Pedro Hernandez in the top of the fifth inning. Barto ranks second in the league with six home runs.