HILLSBORO, Ore. — Relief pitcher Chad Zurat made an impressive return to the Class A Short Season Northwest League by retiring all four batters he faced to play a key role in the Boise Hawks’ 6-4 win over the first place Hillsboro Hops Saturday night.
The 6-2 right-hander, who made 10 relief appearances for the Tri-City Dust Devils last year, was summoned from the bullpen with the tying run at second base and two outs in the fifth inning and induced a flyout to protect a 5-4 lead.
Then, he set down the Hops in order in the sixth with one strikeout, and the Hawks (23-39) went on to close out their first sweep of the season and their first three-game road sweep since August 2013 to disappoint the crowd of 5,205 at Ron Tonkin Field.
The victory went to Craig Schlitter, who fanned four of the six Hops he faced in the seventh and eighth frames.
Counting his last three outings for Grand Junction, Zurat (3-3) now has a streak of 9.1  scoreless innings that have dropped his earned run average to 3.80.
In 16 appearances, he has worked 42.2 innings with 17 strikeouts, 16 walks and three hitbatsmen while allowing 50 hits and 25 runs, 18 earned.
Zurat was on the Boise roster in extended spring training, but the Hawks assigned him to Grand Junction June 10, He was recalled Thursday.
