Connor Staine dominates over 7 innings, Spokane Indians blank Tri-City 2-0
Part of the development process for minor league baseball players is learning how to produce a consistent effort every time they take the field. Or at least learning how to bounce back.
Pitcher Connor Staine seems to have the latter figured out. On Thursday, for the second time this season, he followed up a rough outing with one of his best.
Staine struck out 12 over seven shutout innings and the Spokane Indians beat the Tri-City Dust Devils 2-0 in the opener of a three-game Northwest League series in front of the season’s first sellout crowd of 6,809 at Avista Stadium on Thursday.
“I just kind of came into it ready to roll and hoping to get a win on Fourth of July,” Staine said.
Staine allowed just one hit and two walks, throwing 65 of his 98 pitches for strikes. He just missed the team’s season high of 13, set by Sean Sullivan in his first start of the season on April 6.
“It sounds silly, but I really didn’t feel good for the first four innings,” Staine said. “My body just felt out of whack. I couldn’t really get the fastball to the areas I wanted it to. I think it just had the right movement today.”
In his last start, Staine gave up six earned runs in two innings last week against Everett.
“I’m starting to figure out that (Everett’s) my kryptonite,” Staine said. “We’ve got to play them again next week. I think the mentality is just, you know, it’s gonna happen as part of the game. I know those guys are tough for me. So, I’ve just got to flush it. You can’t take anybody lightly, no matter the record, no matter the score.”
Staine struck out four through the first three innings, including a pair looking in the third.
Spokane’s Cole Carrigg tripled off the base of the wall in left-center with one out in the bottom of the third, but Dyan Jorge struck out and Zac Veen lined out to end the inning.
Staine struck out the side in the fourth and picked up another one in the fifth.
The Indians (10-3) finally got on the board in the fifth. Carrigg reached on a fielder’s choice, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jorge’s single just past the first baseman , narrowly beating the tag at home.
Jorge went to second on the throw. He stole third base when Tri-City catcher Juan Flores was slow returning the ball to pitcher Houston Harding, who complicated matters by throwing wildly toward third and into foul territory, allowing Jorge to jog home.
That’s all Staine needed. He struck out two more in a 1-2-3 sixth and did the same in the seventh.
“I just started to feel right – things started to click,” Staine said. “My grip just felt better. Everything was feeling good in those last innings. So, I just came to the conclusion that, you know, ‘Let’s just keep trying to mow them down with the fastball.’ ”
Tri-City fell to 1-12.
The series continues Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Back to the future: MLB announced the rosters for the 25th annual All-Star Futures Game on Tuesday, and Indians pitcher Chase Dollander was selected to represent the Colorado Rockies on the NL squad.
The ninth overall selection out of the University of Tennessee in the 2023 draft, Dollander was Spokane’s opening-night starter and leads the Northwest League with 102 strikeouts in 67 innings (13.7 K/9).