Emeralds Edge Dust Devils

The Tri-City Dust Devils fell 3-2 to the Eugene Emeralds in another close ballgame Friday night at Gesa Stadium.

Eugene’s Marco Luciano gave the Emeralds a 1-0 lead early via a sacrifice fly, plating Sean Roby from third. The Dust Devils would come back to grab a 2-1 lead in the 6th, with Kyren Paris scoring on a Kevin Maitan sacrifice fly to tie the game. Keinner Piña then came around after drawing a walk, scoring on a wild pitch to give Tri-City the lead.

The Emeralds’ Franklin Labour, though, would strike the decisive blow in the bottom of the 7th, an opposite-field two-run triple to right field scoring Roby and Luciano. Tri-City moved runners into scoring position in both the 8th and the 9th innings, but were unable to get the tying run.

Eugene closer Chris Wright struck out the side in the 9th to record his 17th save.

Righty Matthew McMillan made a strong debut for the Dust Devils, going six innings and giving up one run, walking none and striking out five. Though he received the loss in his Tri-City debut, reliever Brandon Dufault struck out the side in his inning of work. Finally, Ryan Costeiu threw a scoreless inning in his first outing for the Dust Devils, striking out two.

Southpaw Ky Bush gets the start tomorrow night for Tri-City in game four of the five-game series with Eugene, with the Emeralds giving righty Ryan Murphy the starting nod.

The 7:05 first pitch also falls on Baseball Card Giveaway Night, presented by Zuroff Orthodontic Care. The first 500 fans will receive a 2021 Dust Devils Team Card set, with a Toyota of Tri-Cities sponsored Postgame Fireworks Show following the contest.

To purchase tickets, visit dustdevilsbaseball.com or call the Dust Devils’ office at 509-544-8789.