De Jesus’s Record Setting HR Helps Tri-City to Road Split
EUGENE – RF Randy De Jesus’s franchise record 19th home run of the season proved the game-winning hit for the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-19 2H, 52-50) Sunday evening, with the visitors claiming a 6-3 win over the Eugene Emeralds (19-16 2H, 61-41) at PK Park to split the six-game series.
EUGENE – RF Randy De Jesus’s franchise record 19th home run of the season proved the game-winning hit for the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-19 2H, 52-50) Sunday evening, with the visitors claiming a 6-3 win over the Eugene Emeralds (19-16 2H, 61-41) at PK Park to split the six-game series.
The slugger, from Bonao in the Dominican Republic, sent a pitch from Eugene reliever Mauricio Estrella (1-1) high over the wall in left center to start the top of the 6th, putting Tri-City ahead 4-3. De Jesus now owns the top two spots in the Dust Devils record book, breaking his own record of 18 home runs set last season.
A two-out rally stretched the lead further in the 6th, beginning with a single by C Alberto Rios. CF Gage Harrelson walked to turn the lineup over and bring LF Jorge Ruiz to the plate. The lefty leadoff man, who had tripled and scored the previous inning to tie the game at 3-3, sharply grounded a ball inside the first base bag and down the right field line for his second three-bagger in as many innings. Rios and Harrelson both scored, finishing the scoring.
3B Harold Coll got Tri-City on the board with a solo home run to left in the top of the 1st, giving starter Chase Shores (2-2) the lead before he took the mound. Shores went five innings and gave up three runs on nine hits, striking out seven in getting the win. The bullpen covered the final four innings, led by lefty Dylan Phillips’s stellar 2.1 inning performance. The Omaha, Nebraska native retired all seven batters he faced, five by strikeout.
Getting out 27 was a struggle in the 9th inning, with an unrelenting Emeralds attack loading the bases and driving up the pitch count of late-inning ace Nicolo Pinazzi. Righty Keythel Key came in and got the final out, striking out Eugene 3B Zander Darby to nail down his first career save.
SS Capri Ortiz drove in a pair of runs, first with a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning and then with a double to the gap in left-center to score Ruiz in the 5th after the latter’s first triple.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Tri-City, with the win, pulled off its second weekend sweep of the season to gain a road split. The Dust Devils, who won the final three games in Vancouver in late April for a split, finished their second 12-game road trip with a winning 7-5 record.
-Jorge Ruiz’s first triple stretched his active hit streak to 10 games. The product of Valencia, Venezuela has hit .288 with a .345 on-base percentage as the leadoff man in the Second Half, taking over for Caleb Bartolero at the top of the attack.
-The Hillsboro Hops will come to the Tri-Cities winners of four straight games, clinching a series win over the Everett AquaSox with a 9-3 victory at Hops Ballpark Sunday afternoon. North of the border, the Vancouver Canadians shut out the Spokane Indians 14-0 at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium. The Dust Devils now sit three games out of first place in the Second Half playoff race.
WE GROW MORE HOPS…IT’S NOT EVEN CLOSE
Tri-City hosts the Hillsboro Hops for a six-game series beginning at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night, August 4, at Gesa Stadium. All games in the series will start at 7:05 p.m. Pitching matchups have yet to be announced.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin each night with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. Fans can also watch the game for free on Bally Sports Live (Tri-City broadcast), and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
For tickets to the set with the Hops, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.