Dust Devils Rebound for Road Win over Hops

A quality start from Jorge Marcheco and a surging offense pushed the Tri-City Dust Devils (3-9) to a 7-3 win over the Hillsboro Hops (5-7) Thursday night at Hillsboro Ballpark, giving the visitors their first win of the series.

Marcheco (1-1) gave Tri-City his best start of the young season, looking much more like the hurler who won three of his five High-A starts in 2023. Outside of a one-run, three-hit 2^nd inning that gave Hillsboro a 1-0 lead, Marcheco held the Hops in check by allowing only one other batter to reach base in his six-inning start. The righty struck out five and walked none, putting more of his great control on display.

The Dust Devils starter also got to work with the lead in his final three innings after his teammates struck for a pair of runs in the top of the 4^th inning to take the lead. LF Jorge Ruiz led the inning off with a single, and SS Denzer Guzman reached on an error to put runners at first and second with no one out. They remained there until 3B Ben Gobbel came to the plate with two out and the team needing a hit with a runner in scoring position.

Gobbel came through, knocking a pitch from Hillsboro starter Avery Short (0-2) through the left side for an RBI single that scored Ruiz. Guzman sprinted for third on the play and the throw to try to get him went wide, allowing him to score on the second error of the inning and give Tri-City a 2-1 lead.

From there the Dust Devils kept the runs coming, doubling their run total in the 6^th inning on a 2-run single by 1B Andy Blake that pushed the Tri-City advantage to 4-1. Another run came in an inning later on an RBI single to right by 2B Caleb Ketchup, making it a 5-1 game at the stretch.

The Hops would not go quietly, scoring twice in the bottom of the 7^th on a solo home run and an RBI double lost in the dusky skies west of Portland. Dust Devils reliever Brady Choban then came in with two outs in the 7^th and the potential tying run aboard. Hillsboro CF Andrew Pintar hit a deep fly ball to center, sending CF Werner Blakely back to the warning track. Blakely stumbled but made the catch to end the inning and keep Tri-City in front.

Choban then retired the Hops in order in the 8^th, and the Dust Devils put two more runs on the board in the 9^th for some breathing room. C Kevin Bruggeman, a mid-game replacement, lined a one-out double to right-center and reached third when his hit was unintentionally kicked away on the fielding attempt.

DH Will McGillis walked, putting runners on the corners, and the visitors took advantage of two more Hillsboro miscues. First, a wild pitch scored Bruggeman to extend the lead to 6-3 and move McGillis to second. Then, a fourth Hillsboro error allowed McGillis to score, giving the game its final score. Cam Minacci pitched a scoreless ninth in what ended up a non-save situation to clinch the win.

Kevin Bruggeman (2-2, 2B, 2 R) and Caleb Ketchup (2-4, RBI, R) both had multi-hit nights for Tri-City, who now look to even the series in game four of the six-game set at 6:35 p.m. Friday night at Hillsboro Ballpark. Right-hander Walbert Ureña (0-1, 5.79 ERA) goes to the hill for the Dust Devils, with righty Ricardo Yan (0-0, 2.35 ERA) countering for the Hops.

Broadcast coverage of Friday night’s game will begin with the pregame show at 6:15 p.m, both here and on the MiLB app.

After the series the Dust Devils will return home for a two-week homestand starting Tuesday, April 23, against the Everett AquaSox. Tickets for the homestand 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.