Dust Devils Denied Late by Canadians
August 11, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Tri-City Dust Devils' Michael Darrell-Hicks on the mound
(Tri-City Dust Devils)
Great starting pitching for the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-23 2H, 50-55) gave the team the opportunity to take a late lead, which they seized, but the Vancouver Canadians (27-12 2H, 65-39) again found a way to turn the game around and grab a 3-2 win Thursday night at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Tri-City starter Michael Darrell-Hicks gave his team another great performance, going seven innings and giving up only one run, a solo home run off the bat of Vancouver C Kekai Rios in the bottom of the 3rd inning. The right-hander from Bowling Green, Kentucky gave up six hits including the homer, walking two, hitting a batter and striking out seven in a no-decision. Canadians' starter Devereaux Harrison went six scoreless with seven strikeouts in a genuine pitcher's duel at the Nat.
The Rios homer stood as the only run of the game to the 8th inning when the Dust Devils scored a pair of runs to take the lead. C Myles Emmerson and RF Steven Rivas led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and 2B Adrian Placencia laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. CF D'Shawn Knowles then also laid down a bunt in what looked like a safety squeeze. Emmerson held at third and Knowles beat the throw to first for a bunt single to load the bases.
That brought LF Joe Stewart to the plate, who drew a bases loaded walk from Vancouver reliever Eric Pardinho to tie the game at 1-1. SS Arol Vera followed with a line drive fly out to center that was deep enough for Rivas to score and give Tri-City a 2-1 lead. Lefty Naswell Paulino (5-4) came in to get the final out of the inning and keep the rally from continuing.
Dust Devils reliever Jared Southard (0-4) took on the bottom of the 8th but hit Canadians LF Dasan Brown to put the potential tying run aboard. CF Garrett Spain singled behind to put runners on the corners with no one out. A wild pitch both gave Brown time to score to tie the game at 2-2 and Spain the chance to move to scoring position at second. Southard induced a groundout that held Spain at second, bringing up 1B Peyton Williams. Southard jammed the big Iowan lefty, who muscled a pitch into shallow left center to score Spain for what ended up the winning run.
The visitors kept the game alive in the 9th inning when Emmerson reached on a throwing error that pulled Williams off the bag. Pinch-hitter Casey Dana then came in to go righty on lefty against Paulino. Dana hit a fly ball to right center, but it floated long enough for Martinez to make the catch that clinched at least a series split and handed Tri-City its fifth straight loss.
3B Werner Blakely had a great night at the plate for the Dust Devils, going 3 for 4 with a double. D'Shawn Knowles went 2 for 4, part of the team's eight hits on the night.
Tri-City will look to battle back in game four of their six-game series with Vancouver at 1:05 p.m. Friday afternoon at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium. The Dust Devils have announced right-hander Chase Chaney (6-4, 3.21 ERA) as their starter, with the Canadians going with righty Hunter Gregory (0-5, 5.86).
Broadcast coverage will begin with the pregame show at 12:45 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
Tri-City returns to Gesa Stadium on Tuesday, August 22 for a six-game series with the Everett AquaSox. Tickets for both the Everett series and all games are on sale now with special ticket rates available for groups of 20 or more. For more information on Dust Devils single game, season, mini-plan (11, 22, 33) and group tickets, visit dustdevilsbaseball.com, call the team office at (509) 544-8789, or visit the team office (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on game nights, or Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. otherwise).
Images from this story
 Tri-City Dust Devils' Michael Darrell-Hicks on the mound |
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