Indians hurlers calm Volcanoes in victory

KEIZER, Ore. – Three pitchers all turned in solid performances for Spokane Wednesday night as the Indians held on to beat the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3 in Northwest League action on Wednesday.

Starter David Ledbetter scattered five hits over five innings while allowing two earned runs before handing the ball off to the bullpen. Ryne Slack worked out of a self-created jam in the sixth and Alex De La Cruz threw a hitless final three innings to pick up his first save of the season.

Things didn’t start smoothly for Ledbetter. The 21-year-old right-hander surrendered an unearned run in the first after making a throwing error on Brandon Bednar’s comebacker. Bednar made it to third on Ledbetter’s blunder and scored on Jeremy Sy’s ensuing ground out.

The Indians (15-11) quickly answered, scoring two in the second – courtesy of a pair of doubles from Alberto Truinfel and Marcus Greene – and two in the third to push the lead to 4-1.

After Slack escaped the sixth with a double-play, De La Cruz struck out four Volcanoes (16-10) and worked a perfect last two innings to preserve the win.