Indians Too Much for Dust Devils
August 16, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Tri-City Dust Devils' Arol Vera at bat
(Tri-City Dust Devils)
Tuesday night's series opener saw the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-27 2H, 50-59) unable to match the offensive might of the Spokane Indians (19-24 2H, 52-56), with Tri-City suffering a 14-1 defeat at the hands of their Inland Northwest rivals at Avista Stadium.
The visitors found themselves on the back foot early when Spokane opened the scoring on a three-run home run in the bottom of the 1st inning by Indians SS Ryan Ritter. The longball, sent over the center field wall on a pitch by Dust Devils starter Sammy Natera, Jr. (2-8), gave Spokane a lead they would never relinquish.
Tri-City would get on the board in the top of the 4th inning after 2B Adrian Placencia drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. 3B Werner Blakely hit a single to right that moved Placencia up to third, from where he would score on a sacrifice fly by SS Arol Vera to make it a 4-1 game.
That would be all the offense the Dust Devils mustered off Indians starter Anderson Pilar (3-0), who produced a six-inning quality start by giving up one run on four hits and striking out seven while walking one. CF D'Shawn Knowles (1st inning single) and RF Joe Stewart (2nd inning single) added hits, though both were caught trying to steal second. Placencia also singled in the 6th, making him the only man to reach base twice for Tri-City in the ballgame.
While Pilar held the Dust Devils in check, Spokane kept piling on runs, scoring in all their at-bats except the 3rd and 8th innings. The 14 runs scored by the Indians were the most scored on a Tri-City team in 2023 and the 13-run final deficit stands as the largest loss margin this season, making a ninth straight loss tougher to take.
A bright spot came in the 7th and 8th innings, though, with reliever Glenn Albanese working out of a bases-loaded situation in the latter frame to post a second scoreless outing in his return to the Dust Devils.
Tri-City will get back to work in preparation for game two of their six-game set with Spokane, again scheduled for a 6:35 p.m. start Wednesday night at Avista Stadium. Right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks (2-3, 2.25 ERA) has been announced as the Dust Devils starter, countered by Spokane lefty Mason Green (0-1, 5.20 ERA).
Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:15 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
After the Spokane series Tri-City will return to Gesa Stadium Tuesday, August 22 for a six-game set 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' Arol Vera at bat |
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