Dust Devils Dusted by Canadians
PASCO – 3B Ben Gobbel’s thunderous home run off of highly ranked pitching prospect Trey Yesavage fired up the crowd of 1,934 at Gesa Stadium Friday night, but the Vancouver Canadians (27-28) otherwise ruled the night in a 10-1 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils (26-28) that gave the visitors
PASCO – 3B Ben Gobbel’s thunderous home run off of highly ranked pitching prospect Trey Yesavage fired up the crowd of 1,934 at Gesa Stadium Friday night, but the Vancouver Canadians (27-28) otherwise ruled the night in a 10-1 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils (26-28) that gave the visitors at least a share of a series split.
Gobbel’s long blast to center field, his seventh home run of the season, led off the bottom of the 4th inning and pulled Tri-City within a run at 2-1 at the time. Tri-City then got two on behind with no one out, threatening to at least tie the game if not take the lead. Yesavage (1-0) shut down any hopes for the Dust Devils, though, and otherwise only allowed one other baserunner over his five innings via a wild pitch on one of his nine strikeouts. Vancouver got the big bats out from there, hanging eight runs on the Tri-City bullpen and coasting to a third win in four games. Dust Devils starter Ryan Johnson (0-2) gave up only two runs on four hits in his four innings of work but got the loss, walking three while striking out seven. Canadians reliever Gage Stanifer went the final four innings scorelessly for his second save.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Ben Gobbel (2-for-3, BB) had a multi-hit game, adding a single in the 8th inning to his homer for a solid day at the plate. The shot makes it four home runs for Gobbel during the 12-game homestand, with Saturday and Sunday’s games still to come. DH Matt Coutney (single) and SS Arol Vera (double) had the other hits for Tri-City.
-1B Ryan Nicholson saw a four-game hitting streak turn into a five-game on-base streak, walking twice to keep the line moving. Though striking out twice, Nicholson still has almost as many walks (41) as strikeouts (44) on the season.
-June 6th has been a difficult day for the Dust Devils, with the team now 0-4 in the High-A era on the date. The team did not play at that early a date during the short-season era, usually starting around the Father’s Day weekend.
-Of note in the Northwest League from Friday, the Everett AquaSox no-hit the Eugene Emeralds by a score of 1-0 at PK Park. Three pitchers combined for the no-no, with starter Ryan Hawks throwing seven innings and relievers Charlie Beilenson and Stefan Raeth taking it the rest of the way for the first NWL no-hitter of 2025.
POSTGAME FIREWORKS + OAT MILK = ?
Tri-City and Vancouver again gather at 6:30 p.m. at Gesa Stadium, this time on Saturday night for game five of their six-game series. A Saturday night in the Tri always means postgame fireworks, presented Saturday by Hi-Line Engineering and Fabrication. As well, the Dust Devils will dawn Oatly pink and become the Malmo Oatmilkers, taking their yearly turn alongside the 119 other Minor League Baseball squads. Right-hander Ryan Costeiu (0-2, 7.36 ERA) gets the ball for the Oatmilkers, with righty Chris McElvain (3-3, 4.56 ERA) scheduled to make his 2025 High-A debut.
Both the series and the 12-game homestand then conclude with a 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon matinee, with the first 500 fans guaranteed to take home the 2025 Dust Devils in the team’s annual Team Photo Giveaway presented by AutoZone.
For tickets to this weekend’s clashes with the Canadians, and for all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.