Vancouver Outlasts Tri-City in Offensive Battle

That was a crazy game of baseball.

The Tri-City Dust Devils (9-17) and Vancouver Canadians (11-11) combined for 23 runs in a game that showed both the beautiful and befuddling natures of baseball in full Saturday night at Gesa Stadium, where Vancouver held on for a 13-10 victory in front of 1,767 fans.

Ultimately, a 12-run top of the 5^th inning, including a two-run home run by 3B Ryan McCarty, gave the Canadians enough runs to take the win. That remained in question, though, in the late innings of the contest due to the continued feistiness of a Tri-City team that refuses to go down without a fight.

The Dust Devils, playing as Viñeros de Tri-City for the second straight night, found themselves down 13-3 following their four-error inning of infamy but it took just a little over an inning for Tri-City to get up off the mat. 1B Ronaldo Flores came up with two on and two out in the bottom of the 6^th and lined a ball over the left field wall for his first home run of 2024. RF Jadiel Sanchez (double) and 2B Ben Gobbel (single) scored in front of Flores on his three-run shot, making it a 13-6 game.

Four more Viñeros runs in the bottom of the 7^th put the game back within reach, the first coming in on an RBI single by Gobbel. C Kevin Bruggeman followed by drawing a bases loaded walk and handed the baton to Flores, who grounded a ball through the right side for a two-run single to bring Tri-City within three at 13-10. The home nine then had chances with the potential tying run both on base and/or at the plate in the 7^th and 8^th innings, but the incredible comeback ended there.

Ronaldo Flores finished with a 2-for-4 night and five RBI, more than doubling his season total. Ben Gobbel went 3-for-5 with a double, driving in a pair, and Kevin Bruggeman brought home two runs while reaching base four times.

Tri-City starter Joel Hurtado (1-3) took the loss, giving up seven runs (6 ER) in four-plus innings of work while striking out six. Vancouver hurler Naswell Paulino (2-0) received the win, deemed the most effective reliever for the Canadians on the night, and Josh Mollerus finished the game for his first save.

Fans sticking out the rollicking ballgame enjoyed postgame fireworks presented by the CBC Foundation, waving flashing foam light sticks handed out at the gates.

The series finale of the six-game set has been scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch Sunday afternoon at Gesa Stadium, where a Cinco de Mayo Celebration will cap the first-ever Viñeros Weekend. Righties Jorge Marcheco (1-2, 5.11 ERA) for Tri-City and Pat Gallagher (0-0, 3.72 ERA) for Vancouver have been announced as the projected starters.

Broadcast coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 1:10 p.m, both here and on the MiLB app as well as video coverage on the Bally Live app (go to MiLB Zone, select game) and MiLB.tv.

Tickets for Sunday's finale 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 the team’s official ticketing site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.

Finally, the weather forecast calls for rain but, as always, the teams will make every attempt to play. Updates regarding the status of the game will first go to the Dust Devils’ social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter) and then to the team’s website.