Dust Devils Score Big Late to Down Hops
April 26, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Tri-City Dust Devils' Osmy Gregorio at bat
(Tri-City Dust Devils)
Early home runs from C Gustavo Campero and 3B Osmy Gregorio and 3-run 7th and 8th innings propelled the Tri-City Dust Devils (6-9) offense Tuesday night, helping the visitors to take a 9-2 win over the Hillsboro Hops (6-10) at Ron Tonkin Field.
For the first six innings, the Dust Devils and Hops had played a close ballgame. Both Tri-City's Sammy Natera, Jr., and Hillsboro's Yilber Diaz (0-2) started the game by shutting down the other's offense. Natera, Jr. posted four zeroes to start his night, making it ten scoreless innings to begin his pro career.
Diaz, meanwhile, retired the first eight Dust Devils he faced, four by strikeout. His luck would run out, though, at the bottom of the order, when Campero bashed a ball over the right field fence for his first Tri-City home run and a 1-0 lead in the 3rd. RF Alexander Ramirez added a run in the 4th, bringing home CF D'Shawn Knowles with a sac fly to double the lead at 2-0.
3B Osmy Gregorio kept the power show going leading off the 5th, sending a Diaz fastball the opposite way for a line drive homer to right for his first of the season and a 3-0 Dust Devils advantage. The Hops would get on the board in the bottom of the 5th, getting Natera, Jr. out of the game before he could grab his first pro win. The run came in via a wild pitch from Dust Devils reliever Emilker Guzman (1-0), but the righty would get a strikeout to keep Tri-City in front at 3-1.
The backbreaker came in the top of the 7th inning with two out and two on. Dust Devils SS Adrian Placencia popped a fly ball to shallow center field. No Hop fielder could locate it in the night sky and it fell, with the baserunners off to the races. Both DH Steven Rivas, whose RBI single gave Tri-City a 4-1 lead earlier in the inning, and C Gustavo Campero scored on what turned into a 2-run Placencia triple and a 6-1 advantage over Hillsboro.
Three more runs came in in the 8th inning. 2B Arol Vera and 1B Gabe Matthews drew walks to lead off the inning. RF Alexander Ramirez came up and crushed a ball to the base of the center field wall, scoring Vera. The relay throw was botched in the outfield, with the ball getting away and allowing Matthews to come home to make it 8-1. 3B Osmy Gregorio added a sac fly for Tri-City's final run of the night.
Both Dylan King and Nathan Burns would follow Guzman and cover the final three innings to complete the Dust Devils win, which handed Hillsboro their ninth straight loss. Tri-City has beaten the Hops twice this year, both by 9-2 scores.
The Dust Devils and Hops will meet for game two of their series at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday night in Hillsboro. Righty John Swanda (0-0, 2.61) is slated to start for Tri-City, with southpaw Avery Short (0-0, 0.00) countering for Hillsboro.
Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 5:45 p.m. both here and the MiLB First Pitch app.
The Dust Devils return home for a two-week homestand beginning Tuesday, May 9th, against the Eugene Emeralds. It's another Coca-Cola Tuesday, with 21 oz. Coke products for $2 all night.
Tickets for the upcoming homestand are on sale, 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).
Images from this story
 Tri-City Dust Devils' Osmy Gregorio at bat |
Northwest League Stories from April 26, 2023
- Swanda's Gem Leads Dust Devils to Win - Hillsboro Hops
- Carson Whisenhunt Joins the Emeralds - Eugene Emeralds
- Walk Woes Continue in 12-3 Loss to Eugene - Vancouver Canadians
- Emeralds Win Game 1 Against the Vancouver Canadians - Eugene Emeralds
- Dust Devils Score Big Late to Down Hops - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Hops' Slide Continues in Loss to Dust Devils - Hillsboro Hops
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