Blackmon Breaks Rockies Record in Victory

In a mid-90's ESPN commercial, boxer Evander Holyfield yelled "Charley, come get your whoopin'" as ESPN anchor Charley Steiner hid under a desk. Dust Devils outfielder Charlie Blackmon has done all the "whoopin'" this year on his way to a record-setting offensive season. Blackmon smacked two hits on Sunday night to bring his yearly total to 94 and break the Colorado Rockies' short-season record for hits in a year. Oh, by the way, Blackmon also extended his hitting streak to 20 games.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Juan Pierre previously held the record with 93 hits in 1998 for the Portland Rockies. Colorado has had a short-season team for the past 17 years (Bend, Portland, and Tri-City).

Dust Devils starter Sheng-An Kuo (1-2) was outstanding en route to picking up his first win of the year for Tri-City by throwing 7 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on only two hits and striking out nine as the Dust Devils cruised to a 7-0 win.

Derek Kinzler highlighted the Tri-City offense that banged out 11 hits by going 3 for 3 and knocking in two runs on a bases loaded double in a seven-run second inning.

Ian Harrington (6-6) took the loss for Yakima after only lasting the first 1 1/3 innings and giving up seven runs on six hits.

Tri-City (35-38) travels to Yakima (26-47) Monday and Tuesday before returning on Wednesday night for the Season Finale, which includes a postgame fireworks show presented by Envision Homes. Tickets can be purchased at the Dust Devils box office, by phone at 544-8789, online at www.dustdevilsbaseball.com, and at all TicketsWest outlets.

2008 Dust Devils Baseball... "Cooler than Ever!"