Back, Back, Back: Tri-City Rallies Three Times to Even Series

The Tri-City Dust Devils (6-11) came back three times from deficits Wednesday night to take an 8-4 win over the Everett AquaSox (5-12) at Gesa Stadium and even the series at a game apiece.

Down 4-3 in the bottom of the 7^th inning, Tri-City tied the game on an RBi single by 1B Matt Coutney that scored SS Denzer Guzman. Both had three-hit games for their squad, the first time the Dust Devils have had two such performances in a game in 2024.

Coutney advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt laid down by RF Jadiel Sanchez and was joined on-base by DH Werner Blakely, who drew a two-out walk. That set the stage for C Alberto Rios, who lined a pitch from Everett reliever Nick Davila (1-2) just inside the left field line and to the wall. The two-run double scored both Coutney and Blakely, giving Tri-City a 6-4 lead.

The home team then doubled their lead in their next and last at-bat of the night. Coutney sent an opposite field single to left-center that scored 2B Caleb Ketchup, and Sanchez followed with a scorching grounder inside the first base bag down the right field line for an RBI double that plated Coutney for the final 8-4 margin.

Dust Devils reliever Brady Choban (1-0) got his first professional win by getting the final out of the top of the 7^th inning and finishing a scoreless 8^th by inducing a double play ball to preserve the lead. Cam Minacci got the final three outs, punctuating the win with a strikeout to finish the game.

Tri-City first came back after falling behind 1-0 early, scoring twice in the 5^th to take a 2-1 lead. CF Jorge Ruiz brought LF Joe Stewart home with a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 1-1 and allowing 2B Caleb Ketchup to tag up and advance to second. Ketchup then scored from the keystone on an RBI single by Denzer Guzman, part of his fourth three-hit game of the young season.

The second comeback came an inning later, precipitated by the AquaSox retaking the lead on a two-run home run by RF Jared Sundstrom. Jadiel Sanchez led the inning off with a walk for the Dust Devils, who alternated reaching base and outs via a single by 3B Ben Gobbel and a walk by Stewart to load the bases with two out. Ketchup came up and drew a bases loaded RBI walk to bring the game even at 3-3.

Though getting a no-decision, Tri-City starter Jorge Marcheco gave his team another solid outing, giving up two runs in 5.1 innings of work. The righty from San Cristobal, the Dominican Republic has now gone at least five innings in his last three starts for the Dust Devils.

With the series even, Tri-City and Everett face off in game three of their six-game series at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night at Gesa Stadium, where it will be the first Love at 425° Night of 2024 presented by Papa Murphy’s. Right-hander Walbert Ureña (0-1, 3.95 ERA) gets the start for the Dust Devils, and righty Juan Burgos (0-0, 4.32 ERA) the same for the AquaSox.

Broadcast coverage of the contest will begin with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m, both here and on the MiLB app as well as video coverage on MiLB.tv.

Tickets for Thursday's game 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.