Spokane Indians pregame: Leury Tejada looks for sweep against Tri-City
The Spokane Indians (8-7) host the Tri-City Dust Devils (7-8) in the finale of a three-game Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The Indians send righty Leury Tejada (1-1, 1.93) against LHP Ethan Elliott (0-0, 2.61) for the Dust Devils.
Tejada is coming off his first win with Spokane, tossing three scoreless at Eugene on July 31. He allowed two earned runs in four innings last time out against Tri-City on July 24.
Elliott has allowed just six earned runs in eight starts this season and has thrown at least three innings in each of his last five starts.
Lineup: 1) Barreto-SS; 2) Irizarry-LF; 3) Crim-DH; 4) Ventura-C; 5) Ovalles-1B; 6) Ricumstrict-CF; 7) Inoa-3B; 8) Joseph-RF; 9) Hoover-2B.
Weather: First pitch – Overcast, 85. Final out – Scattered thunderstorms, 67.
Player to watch: Alexander Ovalles. He’s coming off his first multi-hit game with Spokane and has three hits in his last two games. He was hitting .377 in 25 games with the AZL Rangers prior to his promotion.
Last game: Derwin Barreto went 3 for 4 with a three-run home run, drove in four and scored twice and the Indians beat the Tri-City Dust Devils 9-2 in the second of a three-game Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Friday.
The Indians (8-7) moved into first place in the North Division second-half standings, one game ahead of the Dust Devils. They pounded out 11 hits, including three home runs.
Jonah McReynolds and Kenen Irizarry added homers for the Indians.
Reliever Billy Layne Jr. retired the first 10 batters he faced and tossed four scoreless innings to earn the win. He allowed two hits and no walks with three strikeouts, lowering his season’s earned-run average to 2.01 over 22 1/3 innings.