Brian Ioneki made his long-awaited BBA debut on Sunday, and came out with the win in the Spuds’ 10-2 victory over Edmonton. He was impressive, striking out nine Jackrabbits while allowing only two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings of work.Ioneki, who came to the Spuds in the 2047 trade which sent Gerardo López to Vancouver, has long been a favorite topic of critics who insist that the Spuds “lost” that trade, and should’ve never given up López (who is putting up All-Star numbers as a reliever for Vancouver this season).
The Spuds have a different view, though, and believe they have a budding young star in Ioneki. The bats came out in support of him, too, putting up the highest run total the Spuds have managed so far this season. They plated eight runs through five innings, taking the pressure off the rookie starter and allowing him to cruise into the sixth. His final pitch was a 98 mile-per-hour fastball at the letters to strike out Bastião Fardos. When Spuds’ manager Paul Wilson came out to take the ball, Ioneki left to a standing ovation.
“He could’ve kept going, but I wanted him to have that moment,” Wilson said after the game. “To leave on a high note, on the biggest day of his career. It seemed like the right thing to do.”
Ioneki was spotted in the clubhouse later, holding the game ball from his final strikeout of Fardos.
“Obviously it’s great to get the ‘W’,” he said. “That’s something they print in the box score next to your name, and they can never take that away. But right now I’m focused on the next game. I need to study up on Calgary’s hitters.”
At that moment, Randy Bader approached, and pointed to the game ball. “Want me to sign that for you?” he asked Ioneki. “It was my 5 RBI’s that won the game, not your pitching.”
The Spuds expect Ioneki to stay in the rotation for at least the next three weeks, while Amayas Moelling recovers from a back injury.