For Moose Jaw Miller Express starter Michael Ross, it was just a blip on the radar.
Despite giving up solo shots in the second and third innings to the Brooks Bombers in Western Canadian Baseball League action on Thursday night at Ross Wells Park, Ross was rarely in danger and ended up going the distance in taking the complete game 5-2 victory.
As the score would indicate, those two home runs – to Spencer Rankin in the second inning and Josh McIntyre in the third – were all the offence Brooks would be able to put together as Ross ended up scattering seven hits while striking out 10.
Ross improved to 5-0 on the season with the win and now sports an impressive 2.06 earned run average through 13 appearances.
When it came to their offence, the Express put their entire line-up to work, with eight players recording at least one hit each; only Doug DelaCruz had more than one, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
It certainly didn’t hurt that a handful of early errors contributed to the Express cause, as they built a 3-2 lead through three innings before adding single runs in the sixth and seventh.
The Express improved to 17-14 with the win and sit in fourth place, 5 ½ games back of first place Weyburn and 4 ½ up on Melville for the final playoff spot.
Moose Jaw returns to action tonight when they travel to Yorkton for a doubleheader to make up for rain-outs earlier in the season. Game one goes at 4:35 p.m,, game two at 7:05 p.m., with both contests seven innings.
