SPOKANE VALLEY – A pair of pitching Ryans, right-handers Ryan Costeiu and Ryan Johnson, combined to throw a four-hit shutout for the Tri-City Dust Devils (27-31 2H, 57-67) Friday night, getting enough run support for a 3-0 win over the Spokane Indians (29-29 2H, 58-66) at Avista Stadium that got the visitors in the win column for the first time this week.
Johnson got things started in his second outing since a six-week shutdown, throwing two scoreless innings from the same mound which he threw a complete game one-hit shutout on July 6. The righty from Red Oak, Texas, gave up one hit and struck out four, finishing with a flourish by striking out the side in the bottom of the 2nd. Costeiu (6-7) took it the rest of the way, allowing only three hits and matching his career-high by striking out ten along the way.
C Juan Flores would provide all the offense needed with a 4th inning solo home run off Spokane starter Josh Grosz (1-5) for a 1-0 lead. The young catcher sliced a Grosz pitch through the wind and off the caboose past the short right field wall. Tri-City would add two runs in the 8th inning for extra breathing room, beginning with a double to the gap in left center by LF Rio Foster. RF Randy De Jesus then laid down a well-place sacrifice bunt down the third base line that put pressure on Indians 3B Skyler Messinger, whose throw missed first and ended up in Avista Stadium’s expansive foul territory. Foster scored and De Jesus advanced to second. An infield hit by Flores got De Jesus to third and brought up SS Mitchell Daly, who lined a ball to right field caught and then thrown to first for what initially looked like a double play. The umpires stopped play after the catch, though, calling a balk on Spokane pitcher Luke Taggart and awarding De Jesus home plate for the third and final run. The win ended both Tri-City’s six-game losing streak and Spokane’s six-game winning streak…