Carson Palmquist bounces back, Spokane Indians end slump with 8-4 win over Eugene
From staff reports
EUGENE – Carson Palmquist needed a bounce-back outing. The Spokane Indians needed a win in a big way.
And for the first time this week, the plan worked as the offense backed a strong outing on the mound.
Palmquist struck out 10 over five innings, four batters hit home runs and the Indians beat the Eugene Emeralds 8-4 in a Northwest League game at PK Park on Saturday. The Indians (12-17 second half) had lost the first four games of the six-game series to the Emeralds (15-14).
Palmquist (6-2) gave up two runs on five hits and walked one. He threw 93 pitches, 62 for strikes. On July 22 against Vancouver, the 22-year-old lefty didn’t make it out of the first inning, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks.
The Emeralds loaded the bases in the third inning on a pair of singles and a hit batter, but Palmquist settled down to strike out the next three batters to get out of the jam.
Spokane took the lead in the fourth. Nic Kent hit a one-out single, and Ryan Ritter followed with a double to the left-field corner to score Kent from first.
Ben Sems singled, and Ronaiker Palma hit a sacrifice fly to score Ritter for a 2-0 lead.
Indians outfielder Juan Guerrero led off the fifth with a single and scored on Jamari Baylor’s first High-A home run since his promotion on Tuesday. The Colorado Rockies acquired Baylor from the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization in May. In 33 games for Low-A Fresno after the trade, Baylor hit .333 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs.
Two batters later, Ritter hit his third High-A homer to make it 5-0.
Palmquist cruised until the fifth. Thomas Gavello led off with a single and with one out, Grant McCray homered to right-center field to put Eugene on the board. Palmquist needed 29 pitches to get out of the inning, which ended on his 10th strikeout .
Spokane’s Benny Montgomery added insurance in the eighth with a two-run home run, his seventh of the season. Two batters later, Sterlin Thompson hit his seventh homer of the season to make it 8-2.
Eugene’s Sean Roby (2 for 4) hit a two-run homer against reliever Felix Ramires in the eighth.
Angel Chivilli pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with a pair of strikeouts for Spokane.
The series concludes Sunday at 4:05 p.m.