Spokane Indians pregame: Ryan Garcia makes second start of season against second-place Everett

The Spokane Indians host the Everett AquaSox in the first of a three-game Northwest League series at Avista Stadium at 5:09 p.m.

The Indians (16-13, first in North) will send RHP Ryan Garcia (0-0. 0.00) against RHP Kelvin Nunez (1-1, 3.79) for the AquaSox (15-14, second in North).

Garcia, 21, is making his second start for the Indians since being assigned to the team. He was the Texas Rangers’ second-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of UCLA. In his first start, Garcia struck out three and walked one with no hits or runs over two innings.

Lineup: 1) Irizarry-2B; 2) Gardner-RF; 3) Garcia-DH; 4) Asuncion-LF; 5) Ventura-C; 6) Ricumstrict-CF; 7) McReynolds-1B; 8) Hoover-SS; 9) Martinez-3B.

Weather: First pitch – sunny, 83. Final out – partly cloudy, 70.

Player to watch: Tanner Gardner. The Rangers’ ninth-round pick in the 2017 draft out of Texas Tech was on a rehab assignment at the start of the Indians season but when his 20 days ran out last week, he was assigned to the roster when Sam Hellinger was promoted to Low-A Hickory. Gardner has struggled to find his timing – he is hitting .170/.291/.277 in 15 games with Spokane.

Last night: Ricky Vanasco pitched five scoreless innings Saturday night and the Indians defeated the host Tri-City Dust Devils 4-0 at Gesa Stadium to remain in first place in the Northwest League’s North Division.

Vanasco improved to 3-0 in five starts with the Indians and lowered his ERA to 1.46. He allowed only two hits – singles by the Nos. 8 and 9 batters in the Tri-City order – and struck out nine with four walks. He has 36 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings this season.

Ex-Indians news: Hickory reliever Tai Tiedemann struck out five with a walk over 2.1 IP scoreless innings. He has a 3.18 ERA this season.