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Behind an impressive performance from starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-7, 29-25) beat the Hillsboro Hops 3-1 on Friday night at Gesa Stadium. Hernandez earned the win after allowing only one unearned run and collecting six strikeouts in six innings of work.
An early lead proved to be all the Dust Devils would need in the series opener against the Hops. Robbie Podorsky scored on a ground ball out from Kelvin Melean in the first inning. After having two outs and no runners on in the bottom of the second inning, Tri-City loaded the bases and added an additional run when Chandler Seagle scored on a wild pitch. The teams exchanged runs later in the game, but the Dust Devils never relinquished the advantage after striking right out of the gate. The bullpen was flawless for Tri-City, with each Dauris Valdez, Andres Munoz, and Mark Zimmerman tossing a scoreless inning in relief.
Left-hander Tom Cosgrove will start the second game of the five-game series on Saturday night. Hillsboro will counter with right-hander Johan Duran. There will be a postgame fireworks show at Gesa Stadium Saturday sponsored by HiLine Engineering & Fabrication. Great seats are available by calling the Dust Devils' front office at (509) 544-8789 or by going to www.dustdevilsbaseball.com to purchase tickets.
"Dust Devils Baseball… "It Will Blow You Away!"
