Comeback Chances for Dust Devils Disappear in Mist
A continuous mist shortened Thursday night’s contest between the Tri-City Dust Devils (19-36 2H, 53-68) and the Eugene Emeralds (29-28, 63-60), with Eugene taking a 6-1 win in a game called after five-and-a-half innings at PK Park. The official decision to call the game came after a 30-minute rain delay,
A continuous mist shortened Thursday night’s contest between the Tri-City Dust Devils (19-36 2H, 53-68) and the Eugene Emeralds (29-28, 63-60), with Eugene taking a 6-1 win in a game called after five-and-a-half innings at PK Park.
The official decision to call the game came after a 30-minute rain delay, in hopes that the rain would let up. Though the precipitation did lighten during the delay the accumulated water throughout the ballgame, especially a heavier stretch in the 3rd through 5th innings, proved too much for the mound to stay in playable condition.
Tri-City’s run came in the top of the 5th inning, which began with an infield single up the middle by LF Alexander Ramirez for the first hit of the night off Emeralds starter Seth Lonsway (2-9). A wild pitch allowed Ramirez to move up to second and, later in the frame, 2B Will McGillis lashed an RBI double down the left field line to score Ramirez and make it a 4-1 game at the time.
Eugene’s scoring came in two bursts, first a 4-run 3rd that staked them to a lead they would not relinquish. Dust Devils starter Nick Horvath (0-2) retired the first seven batters he saw, including the first batter of the 3rd. The home nine then strung together three hits, three walks and a sacrifice fly to go out in front. Two more runs came in in the bottom of the 5th inning for the Emeralds, pushing their lead to the final 6-1 margin.
Though August proved a tough month for Tri-City, 3B Werner Blakely had a great month at the plate. The native Detroiter posted a .321 batting average in 24 games, swatting a homer and five doubles as part of a .436 on-base percentage. Also, IF Arol Vera drove in a team-leading 11 runs in the month, moving him to an even 60 runs on the season. On the mound, reliever Hayden Seig gave up just two runs in 9.1 innings of work (a 1.93 ERA) with a save.
Weather permitting, Tri-City and Eugene will meet for game four of their six-game series at 6:35 p.m. Friday night at PK Park. Left-hander Sammy Natera, Jr. (2-8, 3.95 ERA), who struck out 28 and walked only four in four August starts, is the projected starter for the Dust Devils, and right-hander Daniel Blair (1-2, 4.73 ERA) is expected to start for the Emeralds.
Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:15 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
The Dust Devils will return home to Gesa Stadium for their final home series of the season Tuesday, September 5 against Vancouver. Tickets for the Canadians series are on sale now with special ticket rates available for groups of 20 or more. For more information on Dust Devils single game, season, mini-plan (11, 22, 33) and group tickets, visit dustdevilsbaseball.com, call the team office at (509) 544-8789, or visit the team office (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on game nights, or Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. otherwise).