Diamond shines in debut

He’s no Diamond in the rough. The Texas Rangers knew exactly what they were doing with the 10th pick overall in the 2004 amateur draft.

If two innings is a good enough barometer, Thomas Diamond could be a dominating addition to the Spokane Indians.

While the Indians welcomed the hard-throwing right-hander out of the University of New Orleans, they probably saw the last of right-hander Josh Rupe.

After Diamond struck out five of the six batters he faced in two innings, Rupe struck out five in five scoreless innings as Spokane coasted to a 9-0 victory Tuesday over the Yakima Bears before 2,728 at Avista Stadium.

Diamond could emerge as the ace in Spokane’s eventual piggyback rotation as the Indians attempt to defend their 2003 Northwest League championship. He took his first professional start in stride.

“It was great to get back out there and face some other hitters other than our own team,” the 6-foot-2, 231-pound Diamond said. “I know it’s my first professional game, but I took it as just another game. I just went out there and did my business.”

It’s a business that should feature several strikeouts each time he takes the mound. When he makes his second start (Saturday) he’ll have the freedom to go as long as he can go.

Rupe (2-0), meanwhile, made his first relief appearance after three starts in his brief stay in Spokane. He was assigned from Stockton, Calif., to Spokane to build up his arm strength after not pitching for two months because of a muscle strain in the forearm of his throwing arm. He expects to rejoin Stockton as soon as today.

“The goal was to get back and see some hitters – and try not to get shelled,” Rupe said smiling. “It’s worked out pretty well.”

Count Rupe as a fan of Diamond.

“He’s going to be pretty good,” Rupe said. “He works easy, works smooth.”

Diamond was clocked as high as 94 mph in his brief outing. Just one Bear got a hit, and it was a dribbler on the grass that third baseman Travis Metcalf made a play on but his throw was a tad late to first.

“There’s no doubt about his arm,” Spokane manager Darryl Kennedy said. “He has an outstanding arm. He’s a power pitcher. He’s going to be fun to watch. He threw some pitches up in the zone but that’s to be expected in his debut.”

Kennedy was especially pleased to just use three pitchers what with Diamond limited to two innings after Spokane had to use five in its 7-6 win in 11 innings on Monday. Jarrad Burcie followed Rupe with two innings of one-hit ball.

“Rupe did an outstanding job – he has all year,” Kennedy said. “We really needed him because we were short in the pen tonight.”

With Diamond, Rupe and Burcie untouchable, Spokane (11-8) didn’t need much offense. Yet the Indians batters responded.

It began with leadoff hitter Brandon Cashman in the first inning. Cashman lifted the second pitch into The Grotto in right field for his seventh homer and first at Avista Stadium.

Spokane added six runs when it batted around in the sixth. The scoring was capped in the eighth when catcher Ryan Baldwin belted the first non-Grotto homer, a solo shot to left-center field for his first hit of the season.

Spokane heads to Vancouver, B.C., for a five-game series with the Canadians beginning tonight. The Indians will unveil their piggyback eight-man pitching rotation where eight starters split starts. Righty Mark Roberts (0-2, 5.40 ERA) starts tonight and will split duty with lefty Clint Brannon (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

After the first day off next Monday, Spokane returns home for a five-game set with Eugene.