Palmquist pitches Indians to victory
Starter throws 5 shutout innings for first win
KEIZER, Ore. – Cody Palmquist fired five shutout innings and LaDarious Clark, Connor McKay and Sherman Lacrus each drove in a pair of runs as the Spokane Indians rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in Northwest League action on Sunday.
Palmquist (1-0) allowed four hits and two walks, while striking out five. He lowered his earned-run average to 1.93.
Spokane jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Jamie Potts opened the big inning with an infield single. Lacrus followed with a walk and Dylan Moore was hit by a pitch from Volcanoes starter Nicholas Gonzalez (0-2) to load the bases.
Potts scored the Indians’ first run on a wild pitch and, with one out, McKay delivered a two-run single.
Dean Long doubled to put runners on second and third and Clark singled to right field to plate McKay.
The Indians upped their lead to 6-0 with a pair of runs in the fourth off Volcanoes reliever Rayan Hernandez.
Ti’Quan Forbes, McKay and Long opened the inning with singles to load the bases. Clark walked to force in a run and, with one out, Leon Byrd drew a free pass to force home the second run.
Spokane added two more runs in the eighth off reliever Eric Sim to make it 8-0.
Long was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Byrd walked with two outs to send Long to second. After the runners advanced a base on a wild pitch, Lacrus singled to right field to drive in a pair.
The Indians bullpen was stellar, too.
Jeffrey Springs was perfect in his two innings of work with a pair of strikeouts and Omartin Lopez completed the shutout, allowing one hit in two innings.
The Indians improved to 5-6 and pulled within three games of front-running Everett. Salem-Keizer dropped to 4-7.