Emeralds Outshine Dust Devils
August 6, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Tri-City Dust Devils shortstop Caleb Ketchup at bat
(Tri-City Dust Devils)
Great pitching by the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-19 2H, 50-51) kept the Eugene Emeralds (17-18 2H, 51-50) within the bounds of Gesa Stadium for the first four games, but the visitors sent three longballs out of the park Saturday night on the way to a 9-1 win over Tri-City in game five of their six-game set.
The big blow for Eugene came on a grand slam by 3B Luis Toribio off a pitch by Dust Devils reliever Nick Mondak over the wall in right field, part of a six-run top of the 4th inning. The high fly just cleared the fence, causing the runners to wait and for a moment give the impression that Toribio had overtaken 1B Sean Roby, who had reached on a walk issued by Dust Devils starter Cam Tullar (0-1). Tri-City manager Jack Howell protested that Toribio had passed Roby, which would have turned the play into a three-run single and out. The umpires declined to confer, though, confirming the Emeralds' sixth grand slam of the year.
The grand slam made it a 5-0 Eugene lead, the team first scoring on a sacrifice fly by DH Adrian Sugastey on which Dust Devils LF Casey Dana made an outstanding diving catch in the left-center gap. The sixth run came in on an RBI double by CF Grant McCray, one of 11 to come to the plate in the inning.
The home nine answered with its lone run of the game in the bottom of the 4th inning. RF Alexander Ramirez opened the frame with a deep fly ball that landed just fair down the right field for an opposite field double. 3B Caleb Ketchup came up two batters later and blooped a pitch from Emeralds starter Seth Lonsway (1-7) into shallow right. Ramirez, running all the way, scored to make it a 6-1 game, but the offense was otherwise bottled up by Eugene pitching.
The slugging Emeralds, who came into the night with 109 home runs, got solo shots from 1B Sean Roby (5th inning) and SS Aeverson Arteaga (7th inning) later in the game to push the lead out to 8-1. Eugene added one more run in the 8th when 2B Ghordy Santos singled to get aboard and then scored on a two-base wild pitch and a throwing error on the attempt to get him at third.
Cam Tullar went 3.1 innings in his first Tri-City start, throwing three scoreless before things went awry in the 4th. The lefty only gave up two hits and struck out three Emeralds batters, but walked four, two of which came in to score in the six-run 4th.
In the end, though, it turned out that neither the outcome nor a little late rain in the final innings could not dampen the fun that 3,024 fans had Saturday night, which concluded with postgame fireworks presented by Teamsters Local 839.
Leading the series three games to two, the Dust Devils will get another shot to grab a series win in the finale at 7:05 p.m. Sunday night at Gesa Stadium, where it will be Love at 425 Night presented by Papa Murphy's. The take-and-bake experts will be on hand at the ballpark to give out coupons and perhaps other goodies as well.
Right-hander Jorge Marcheco (3-0, 1.54 ERA) has been announced as the probable starter for Tri-City, with righty Trevor McDonald (1-1, 1.50 ERA) swinging back around in his second start of the series for Eugene. Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
Tickets for both Sunday night's series finale with the Emeralds and all games are on sale now. Also, 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 shortstop Caleb Ketchup at bat |
Northwest League Stories from August 6, 2023
- Emeralds Shut Out Dust Devils In Series Finale - Eugene Emeralds
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- Graham Has Four-Hit Game, Hops Win Third Straight over Vancouver - Hillsboro Hops
- C's Lose Third Straight, Split Series - Vancouver Canadians
- Emeralds Outshine Dust Devils - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Frogs Falter On Frogstock Night, Lose 7-5 - Everett AquaSox
- Patiño's Big Night Sparks Offensive Outburst - Hillsboro Hops
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