Dust Devils' Ramirez fans 10 in one-hit gem

Emmanuel Ramirez's new role is not exactly new at all. Nonetheless, he's taken to it with impressive results.
The Padres prospect gave up one run on one hit and two walks while striking out 10 over nine innings Saturday as Class A Short Season Tri-City walked off with a 2-1, 10-inning win over Eugene at Gesa Stadium.

Ramirez returned to the Northwest League on June 12 from Class A Fort Wayne, where he posted a 3.63 ERA over 17 1/3 innings in seven relief appearances. The right-hander joined the Dust Devils with a directive to return to starting, a role he performed for much of the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
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Ramirez opened Saturday's contest by surrendering a double to designated hitter Jhonny Bethencourt. After a wild pitch allowed Bethencourt to take third, Eugene took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Amaya.
Ramirez did not surrender another hit the rest of the evening. The 23-year-old set down the side in order in the second and third innings before working around a walk to Brandon Hughes in the fourth.
"His stuff didn't really change from the first inning onward," Tri-City pitching coach Josh Spence said. "He was aggressive in the zone. … I think the big thing for Ramirez is he understands what it takes to win the game. He didn't panic. He just attacked the zone."
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-hander retired 12 batters in a row between the fifth and eighth before pitching around a walk to Bethencourt in the ninth. He needed 99 pitches to get through nine innings, throwing 65 for strikes.
"He was pretty consistent throughout the whole game," Spence said. "I think a good term would be he kind of hit his stride and he picked up a little bit of momentum. The big thing that stood out to me is without panicking in the first inning it really set the tone for the team to compete for the day. It was really fun to watch."

Ramirez lowered his ERA to 2.61 in seven starts since returning to the rotation with the Dust Devils. Aside from providing a good example for the rest of the team's young rotation, the free agent out of the Dominican Republic has struck out a Northwest League-leading 46 batters while walking nine and posting a 0.89 WHIP over 48 1/3 innings.
"We have a little game plan going into the game," Spence said. "We want a high-percentage first-pitch strike, we want them on or out in four pitches or less and we want to show that we can elevate during the game. He consistently hits all three areas in that game plan. It doesn't hurt that he's gotten his changeup and his breaking ball to be really good, too, at this time.
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"It's a combination of the hard work, understanding what it takes to win the game and just doing the little things right. It's paying off for him."
Aldemar Burgos won the game for Tri-City with a one-out RBI single off Jake Steffens (0-1) in the 10th. Bryant Aragon drove in the Dust Devils' other run with a second-inning triple.
Andres Munoz improved to 2-0 after tossing a clean inning.