Tri-City Taken Down Late by Vancouver

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Tri-City Dust Devils (21-27 2H, 56-58) and the Vancouver Canadians (27-21 2H, 54-60) played another typically tight and low-scoring ballgame to close their six-game series at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, with Canadians 1B Max Viera’s two-run triple in the bottom of the 8^th the big blow in a 4-2 defeat for Tri-City.

The visitors held a 2-1 lead at the 7^th inning stretch, first scoring in the top of the 5^th. DH Adrian Placencia got on with a leadoff walk, advancing to second on a groundout that brought 2B David Mershon to the plate with two out. The Mississippi State baseball grad carved a line drive to left-center that found a safe landing on the outfield turf, scoring Placencia to tie the game at 1-1.

An inning later, the Dust Devils took the lead when leadoff man 1B Ryan Nicholson smashed a ball down the right field line and over the high wall for a solo home run. The lefty’s 9^th High-A home run of 2026 gave Tri-City the 2-1 lead they held to the stretch, thanks largely to another great start from right-hander Chase Shores. The 2025 2^nd round pick of the Los Angeles Angels gave up only one run in six innings of work, giving up four hits and striking out three.

Vancouver first tied the game in the bottom of the 7^th. Viera started the inning with his first triple of the day, sending a pitch from Dust Devils reliever Francis Texido (2-6) off the wall in right field to put himself at third as the potential tying run. LF Dariel Ramon then fulfilled that potential with a one-out sacrifice fly to center, scoring Viera to tie the game at 2-2.

One-out free passes in the bottom of the 8^th to Canadians C Ryan Sprock (walk) and CF Austin Smith (hit-by-pitch) put two on and triggered a pitching change, with closer Sam Tookoian coming in to try to keep the game tied. Tookoian got a strikeout for the second out but Viera came up one more time and lined a ball just out of the reach of a diving LF Kevyn Castillo, rolling deep into the gap and scoring both Sprock and Smith.

Tri-City started the top of the 9^th with a single by SS Kendrey Maduro, quickly bringing the potential tying run to the plate. A double play and a popout later, though, the game ended, handing a win to Vancouver reliever Reece Fields (1-0) for his two scoreless frames. The Canadians won five of the six games in the series.

DUST DEVILS NOTES

-Ryan Nicholson closed out the series with another multi-hit game, hitting his first home run for the club since a June 6 blast at Gesa Stadium against Vancouver. The slugger went to Triple-A Salt Lake shortly after for six weeks, hitting three longballs for the Bees before returning to the Dust Devils.

-Adrian Placencia, known for his patience throughout his Tri-City career, drew seven walks in the series. The infielder holds the all-time franchise records both for games played (325) and, unsurprisingly, walks (228).

-Eugene beat Hillsboro 8-4 to sweep the three games at PK Park and win five of six in the week’s games between the two. Spokane and Everett played a wild and rollicking game at Everett Memorial Stadium, with the Indians winning 8-6 in ten innings to grab a second straight win on the way out of Snohomish County.

THE FUTURE M’S IN TOWN

Tri-City hosts the Everett AquaSox, High-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, for a six-game series beginning Tuesday night, August 18, with all games in the series starting at 7:05 p.m. Pitching matchups have not yet been announced.

Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. Fans can also watch the game for free on Bally Sports Live (Tri-City broadcast), and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.

For tickets to the Everett series, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.