Cluster of Homers Powers Dust Devils to Second Straight Win
PASCO – Three home runs in the first four innings supplied more than enough offense Friday night for the Tri-City Dust Devils (8-5), who also got out of two spots of bother to complete a 7-2 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (5-8) in front of 2,212 at Gesa Stadium. A
PASCO – Three home runs in the first four innings supplied more than enough offense Friday night for the Tri-City Dust Devils (8-5), who also got out of two spots of bother to complete a 7-2 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (5-8) in front of 2,212 at Gesa Stadium.
A three-run 1st inning got things started for Tri-City, beginning with infield singles by 2B Johan Macias and 3B Jake Munroe. Two batters later, 1B Ryan Nicholson got the Dust Devils on the board with a sacrifice fly that plated Macias for a 1-0 lead. That left SS Capri Ortiz at first, who had reached via fielder’s choice. The speedy infielder would only need to jog home to score when C Juan Flores launched a pitch from Hillsboro starter Brian Curley (0-1) over the wall in right field and off the property for a two-run shot and a 3-0 lead.
The power surge continued an inning later, with DH Caleb Bartolero crushing a ball over the wall in left for his first home run of the season. The solo blast made it 4-0 through two innings, and Tri-City was off and running.
Starter Chris Cortez got into bases loaded trouble in both the 2nd and 4th innings, escaping the 2nd with a double play ball but running up against his pitch count in the 4th. Keythel Key (2-0) entered the game in the middle of a count and hit a batter, bringing in the Hops’ second run after a bases loaded walk had given them their first run. The Venezuelan righty locked in from there, retiring eight batters in a row in earning the win.
Two more runs came in in the 6th for the Dust Devils, the first on a wild pitch that allowed Nicholson to score and the second on an RBI single by LF Jorge Ruiz that brought in the seventh and final run of the night.
Lefty Lucas Knowles pitched the final three innings scorelessly for the old-fashioned save.
WIN A GAME, WIN A SERIES…AND PLEASE ENJOY THE DRONES
Game five of the six-game series between Tri-City and Hillsboro has been scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start Saturday night at Gesa Stadium. The first drone show of the 2026 season, presented by Kustom Restoration, will take place postgame. It’s also a Family Feast Night with hot dogs, 16 oz. Coca-Cola products, bags of chips and ice cream sandwiches all available for $2.50 throughout the night (or until supplies run out).
Right-hander Tyler Bremner (0-0, 0.00 ERA), top Angels prospect, makes his third start of the year for the Dust Devils. He’ll take on righty John West (0-2, 5.14 ERA) of the Hops.
Broadcast coverage begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:10 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.
For tickets for Saturday night’s game, the 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon series finale and all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.