NWL Tri-City Dust Devils

Dust Devils Double Indians in Wednesday Matinee

Published on April 19, 2023 under Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release


Tri-City Dust Devils pitcher Sammy Natera, Jr.
Tri-City Dust Devils pitcher Sammy Natera, Jr.
(Tri-City Dust Devils)

Clutch two-out hits and four no-hit innings by LHP Sammy Natera, Jr. helped the Tri-City Dust Devils (3-7) to a 4-2 win over the Spokane Indians (4-4) Wednesday afternoon at Gesa Stadium.

All but one of the Dust Devils four tallies came in an inning that starting with the Indians retiring the first two hitters. The first came in bottom of the 1st inning, when 2B Arol Vera and 1B Gabe Matthews drew walks from Spokane starter Jalen Hill (0-2) to put a runner in scoring position. RF Alexander Ramirez then came up and hit a hard grounder to the right side that was too hot to handle, scoring Vera for a 1-0 lead.

The second big hit came in the 5th inning. Back-to-back singles by SS Adrian Placencia and Vera again put two on. Matthews came up and socked a double to the gap in left-center, scoring both Placencia and Vera to extend the lead to 3-0.

On the other side, Natera, Jr. threw his second scoreless no-hit outing in as many appearances, this time going four innings and striking out five while working around two walks and a hit batter. He threw 63 pitches, 36 for strikes.

Chase Chaney (1-0) took over in relief, throwing a 1-2-3 5th inning and moving a combined no-hit effort to the 6th. There the Indians would end the bid by stringing three hits in a row to start the frame, the last a two-run triple by Spokane CF Benny Montgomery to make it a 3-2 game.

Chaney, though, would leave the tying run at third with some help from strong defensive plays by both Vera and CF D'Shawn Knowles. Vera, at the edge of the grass for a play at the plate, fielded a grounder and looked Montgomery back to third before flipping to a covering Chaney for the first out. Knowles then caught a fly ball to center, making a strong throw home which again held the potential tying run 90 feet away. A Chaney strikeout of LF Jordan Beck ended the threat.

The Dust Devils added a run in the 6th inning. DH Christian Sepulveda followed a one-out single to right by 3B Osmy Gregorio with a double down the left field line. The Indians infield came in to try to cut off another run, but Tri-City C Brendan Tinsman lined a single through the middle that scored Gregorio. Though Sepulveda was tagged out at the plate, the Dust Devils led 4-2.

The bullpen held the lead the rest of the way, with relievers Nick Jones and Robinson Piña getting big outs in the 7th and 8th innings. Jake Smith pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his first professional save.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Dust Devils and evened the series at a game apiece.

Game three of the six-game set between Tri-City and Spokane takes place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night at Gesa Stadium, with pregame broadcast coverage beginning at 6:10 p.m. at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB First Pitch app. Righty John Swanda (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will start for the Dust Devils, with right-hander Jarrod Cande (0-0, 4.91 ERA) going to the hill for the Indians.

Tickets for this week's series are on sale now, with special ticket rates are 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).

Check out the Tri-City Dust Devils Statistics

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Tri-City Dust Devils pitcher Sammy Natera, Jr.
Tri-City Dust Devils pitcher Sammy Natera, Jr.
   



Northwest League Stories from April 19, 2023


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