Largest Crowd of Season Sees Tri-City Tripped Late by Hillsboro

PASCO – A near sellout crowd of 3,408 at Gesa Stadium came out for entertaining baseball and the season’s first drone show, and they got both from the Tri-City Dust Devils (8-6) in a 5-4 loss to the Hillsboro Hops (6-8) on Saturday night.

Tri-City starter Tyler Bremner came out firing, striking out six in a row to start his night and eight of the first nine batters he faced. The top Angels prospect gave up his first runs in the pros, a total of two on four hits, but finished with a career-high ten strikeouts in his five innings of work.

Bremner also left with a chance to get his first professional win after the Dust Devils had rallied to take the lead. The home side first tied the game in the bottom of the 4^th on a two-run double by C Peter Burns, who lined a deep drive off Hillsboro starter (and former Boston College teammate) John West into the left-center gap. An inning later they took the lead on a two-run home run by CF Anthony Scull, his second longball in as many days, and Tri-City led 4-2 through five innings.

The Hops tried to get a run back at the start of the 6^th inning, when RF Avery Owusu-Asiedu tomahawked a ball from reliever Kyle Roche to deep left field. Dust Devils LF Gage Harrelson leapt up against the wall and reached up over it, robbing a home run with an excellent catch that brought fans to their feet. Roche went on to throw two scoreless innings and Tri-City took their 4-2 lead to the 8^th inning.

There, though, Saturday’s game slipped through their fingertips. Lefty Nick Jones (0-1) came in for the 8^th inning and gave up a leadoff walk to Hillsboro DH Slade Caldwell. After getting a strikeout of Owusu-Asiedu, the Hops piled on Jones for four hits in a row. The second, a two-run double by 3B Yassel Soler, tied the game at 4-4 and the last, an RBI single by C Alberto Barriga threw a drawn-in infield, gave the visitors the run that won the game.

The home side would give themselves a chance in the bottom of the 9^th, beginning with RF Jorge Ruiz reaching on a throwing error and Harrelson then singling behind him to right and moving him to third. 2B Johan Macias came up and hit a grounder to the right side, but the Hillsboro infield cut down Ruiz, who ended up tagged out in a rundown. Scull then came back around with runners at first and second, drawing a full count but striking out to end the game.

Hops reliever Rio Britton (2-0) got the win, throwing three scoreless innings of relief behind the starter West, and Sawyer Hawks picked up his third save.

BASEBALL YOUTH OF THE TRI-CITIES…ASSEMBLE!

Tri-City and Hillsboro conclude their six-game series with a 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon game at Gesa Stadium. Right-hander Yeferson Vargas (1-0, 1.74 ERA) takes the mound for the Dust Devils, countered by left-hander Caden Grice (0-0, 2.70 ERA) of the Hops.

Broadcast coverage begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 1:10 p.m., found for free at dustdevilsbaseball.com (go to Team, then Listen Live) and the MiLB app. The game can also be watched live for free on the Bally Sports Live app and website, and either live or on-demand via an MLB+ or MLB.tv subscription.

Prior to the game the first Youth Baseball Clinic of the 2026 season will take place at the ballpark, presented by Dutch Bros. Ballers from ages 5-16 can take part in drills led by Tri-City players and coaches, with those participating asked both to wear athletic shoes (no cleats) and bring their own gloves, helmets and bats. Both participants and those observing will need tickets for Sunday’s game to take part, with check-in beginning at 10:00 a.m.

For tickets to Sunday afternoon’s series finale, and all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.