Dust Devils Split Slips Through Fingertips
HILLSBORO – Sunday’s tilt between the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-14 2H, 46-50) and the Hillsboro Hops (8-22 2H, 41-55) swung back and forth multiple times, with the Hops coming out on top 8-7 in walk-off fashion to take the series four games to two. Tri-City got to the bottom of
HILLSBORO – Sunday’s tilt between the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-14 2H, 46-50) and the Hillsboro Hops (8-22 2H, 41-55) swung back and forth multiple times, with the Hops coming out on top 8-7 in walk-off fashion to take the series four games to two.
Tri-City got to the bottom of the 9th leading 7-6, after LF David Calabrese’s two-run home run in the 8th gave the visitors the lead back. Reliever Carlos Espinosa (2-3) had worked the 8th inning, posting a zero, and looked to do the same and grab the save. Hillsboro RF Druw Jones singled to lead things off, though, and LF Junior Franco doubled behind to put the winning run in scoring position with no one out. CF Slade Caldwell then received an intentional walk to have a force play at every base. Hops DH Angel Ortiz then hit a sacrifice fly to center, tying the game at 7-7. The Dust Devils then got an out at the plate on a groundball to give themselves a chance to get to extra innings, but late substitution and Hillsboro SS Cristofer Torin lined a ball down the right field line for a walk-off single that scored Caldwell and won the game for both the Hops and reliever Sam Knowlton (1-3).
The men from Pasco, Kennewick and Richland led 3-0 through the first two innings, with 1B Ryan Nicholson hitting a sac fly in the 1st inning for a 1-0 lead and CF Anthony Scull swatting a two-run homer over the right field fence in the 2nd. Hillsboro scored six unanswered runs in the third through the fifth innings before Tri-City C Juan Flores lined an RBI single up the middle to get the Dust Devils within two at 6-4. DH Rio Foster finished out a strong week with an RBI double in the 8th that made it a one-run game before Calabrese’s two-run shot.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Anthony Scull hit .346 (9-for-26) for the series, hitting a pair of home runs with 8 RBI. The outfielder, from the Cuban capital of Havana, has had an excellent Second Half so far, hitting .306 (26-for-85) with four home runs, 14 RBI and three doubles. His .381 on-base percentage, .482 slugging percentage and .863 OPS are the highest for any Tri-City hitter who has played enough games to qualify.
-Righties Bridger Holmes (1.2 IP) and Max Gieg (1 IP) combined for 2.2 innings of scoreless relief, giving the squad their opportunity to battle back at the plate.
-The Dust Devils and Hops play one more series this year, a September 2-7 six-gamer at Gesa Stadium that will close out the regular season for both teams.
O CANADA
Tri-City heads home to host the Vancouver Canadians in a six-game series starting at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night, July 29, where it will be both Ben Hill Night presented by Circle K and a Coca-Cola Tuesday. All games in the series will begin at 7:05 p.m., with the Dust Devils Pregame Show taking the digital airwaves at 6:45 p.m. both on the video side in Bally Sports Live’s MiLB Zone and audio-only at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app.
For tickets to the Vancouver series, and all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.