Spokane Indians starter Jackson Cox solid in first start; Everett hits 3 solo homers in 3-2 win | NWL baseball

Jackson Cox, the Colorado Rockies second-round pick in the 2022 draft out of Toutle Lake High School in Washington, was one of three highly touted Rockies pitching prospects to lose all of the 2024 season to elbow ligament replacement surgery.

The organization got a glimpse of what they were missing last season, as the righty struck out 92 over 85 carefully managed innings – in 23 starts, he averaged just 3 ⅔ innings pitched – with a 3.39 ERA for Low-A Fresno.

On Saturday, Cox delivered on that promise once again – but there just wasn’t enough offense to go around.

The Everett AquaSox hit three solo home runs – two in the fifth after Cox had left the game – and they edged the Indians 3-2 in the second of a three-game series at Avista Stadium.

Cox struck out seven over four innings, utilizing a 94-96 mph fastball and his signature curveball to good effect. He allowed a run on three hits and a walk, throwing 66 pitches, 42 for strikes.

“I felt pretty good,” Cox said. “I had a good defense behind me. I always trust those guys out there, and it makes it easy for me to just focus on pitching when I know those guys are behind me.”

Cox was happy with his velocity and his curve, but felt his changeup and cutter were lacking on Saturday.

“I didn’t feel like I was throwing that hard. I was just focused on doing my part to help team win and fill up the zone,” he said.

“He was really good with what I saw of him coming out of spring,” Indians pitching coach Blaine Beatty said. “He struggled a little bit with this command and his ability to execute some pitches (in Arizona). And of course, it was the last week of spring. But I really was impressed with how he went about it today. He made the adjustment, got himself in the zone and competed.”

Cox got off to a good start, striking out the first two batters of the game. But Everett catcher Josh Caron skied the first pitch he saw from Cox into the netting above the tall left field wall for a solo homer.

Luis Suisbel followed with a double into the right field corner, but Cox bounced back to get Matthew Ellis looking to end the inning.

Indians outfielder Robert Calaz, the Colorado Rockies No. 5 prospect, ripped a two-out triple in the bottom half and scored on an infield single by Ethan Hedges to tie it.

Kevin Fitzer drilled his second home run in as many games in the second inning, a line drive down the left field line, for a 2-1 lead. The Indians had two on with two down, but Kelvin Hidalgo waived through a breaking ball for the third out.

Cox retired six straight, then gave up a double and a walk to start the fourth. He struck out the next two, then got Anthony Donofrio to bounce out to second to escape the inning unscathed.

“(Cox) was asking for one more inning, but just with the with the gap between spring training and his opening start, we just felt it best (to pull him),” Beatty said. “We will increase him as he goes. He’s still got a ways to go with learning how to execute some of his secondary stuff early in counts. He got his curveball going there later in the game and able to finish off some hitters.”

Beatty said there are no organizational limitations for Cox on his second season after surgery.

“We’re gonna stretch him out, but you know, he’s good to go for me,” Beatty said “He shows some durability, and at this point, I think he should be past with whatever, you know, getting through that surgery.”

“Not having the restrictions coming off of Tommy John like I was last year is definitely nice,” Cox said. “Knowing that I’m able to go four or five innings early in the season, compared to waiting until end of July, early August.”

Reliever Fisher Jameson took over in the fifth and was greeted rudely, as Carter Dorighi and Jonny Farmelo hit back-to-back one-out homers to put the AquaSox up 3-2. It was Dorighi’s second professional homer in 141 games.

It was quiet until the bottom of the eighth inning. The Indians loaded the bases with two down on a single by Ethan Hedges and consecutive walks. That brought up Max Belyeu, but he swung through a 98-mph heater from Christian Little to end the burgeoning rally.

Everett’s 6-foot-5 closer Brock Moore struck out three in the ninth inning, hitting 99 on several occasions, for his first save of the season.

The series concludes Sunday at 1:05 p.m.