NWL Tri-City Dust Devils

It's A...Drop-Off? Tri-City Gets Past Eugene in Extras

Published on August 5, 2023 under Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release


Tri-City Dust Devils at bat
Tri-City Dust Devils at bat
(Tri-City Dust Devils)

Another tight, tense ballgame between the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-18 2H, 50-50) and Eugene Emeralds (16-18 2H, 50-50) took place at the corner of Burden Boulevard and Homerun Road Friday night, with Tri-City taking a 4-3 win in 10 innings in front of 2,312 at Gesa Stadium.

Dust Devils C Myles Emmerson scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, starting at second and getting to third on a sacrifice bunt by CF D'Shawn Knowles. Emmerson then came home on what initially set up as a possibly close play at the plate. Eugene RF Grant McCray, who threw out a runner at third in Thursday night's game, lined himself up to meet a fly ball hit by Tri-City 2B Adrian Placencia and get all his momentum forward for a throw to the plate.

McCray ran forward and reached up at the spot in mid-depth right field where he planned to catch the ball and throw home, but the ball bounced off the inside of his glove and dropped to the turf for McCray's first error in 75 games. Emmerson, attempting to tag and score regardless of the situation, sprinted home. McCray picked the ball up and threw it in but Emmerson scored standing up, setting off the chase to celebrate with Placencia, who was credited with a sacrifice fly and a walk-off RBI winner. Emeralds reliever Brett Standlee (2-3) got the loss.

The opportunity for the win came to the Dust Devils because reliever Willian Suarez (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings, including stranding the automatic runner in the top of the 10th. The right-hander from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, has found a groove in the summer months, striking out 20 and walking only four in 17 innings of relief work over eight outings in July and early August. Of the eight, six have been scoreless appearances.

Tri-City had to come back from a 3-1 deficit to force extra innings, though drawing first blood in the bottom of the 1st inning. LF Joe Stewart legged out another infield single, moving to second when the throw to get him at first sailed errantly and rolled into the Dust Devils dugout. Eugene starter Nick Sinacola, who threw five otherwise solid innings, then threw high and into center field on a pick-off attempt of Stewart, who headed to third. SS Arol Vera then flew out deep enough to center for Stewart to score without a throw for a 1-0 lead.

Answering almost immediately, the Emeralds took the lead in the 2nd on a two-run single by C Zach Morgan, whose hit to left was the third single in a row for his team. LF Jared Dupere helped the visitors add to their lead with a two-out RBI triple to right in the top of the 5th, making it a 3-1 game at the time.

The comeback began for Tri-City in the 6th, when Placencia walked and stole both second and third. Vera again came through, slicing a bloop single over a drawn-in infield and just onto the left field grass, plating Placencia to draw the Dust Devils within a run at 3-2. The next inning saw a leadoff double by 1B Matt Coutney in the 7th which put the Albertan aboard at second. RF Steven Rivas then placed a grounder up the middle that he legged out for a hit, moving Coutney to third. Emmerson then grounded into a double play, Coutney scoring to tie the game at 3-3.

Starter Chase Chaney went six innings and gave up three runs on eight hits, his fourth quality start in a row for Tri-City. Reliever Andrew Peters followed him with two electric innings, allowing only one hit and striking out five including the side in the 7th.

The win gave the Dust Devils their third win in the first four games of the series, clinching at least a series split. The victory also gave the home nine a 13-9 lead in the season series between themselves and the Emeralds and an even 50-50 overall record through 100 games.

Game five of the series has been set for a 7:05 p.m. start Saturday night at Gesa Stadium, with postgame fireworks presented by Teamsters Local 839. A duel of southpaws has been announced, with Tri-City has going with left-hander Cam Tullar (0-0, 0.00 ERA) as its starter and Eugene handing the ball to lefty Seth Lonsway (0-7, 5.68 ERA).

Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

Tickets for both Saturday night's contest and Sunday's finale 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).

Check out the Tri-City Dust Devils Statistics

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Tri-City Dust Devils at bat
Tri-City Dust Devils at bat
   



Northwest League Stories from August 5, 2023


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