Dust Devils Crank Up the Offense to Eleven to Beat Emeralds

Three scoring bursts backed a brilliant spot spart by lefty C.J. Mayhue for the Tri-City Dust Devils (20-37 2H, 54-69) Saturday night, their efforts combining to beat the Eugene Emeralds (30-29 2H, 64-61) by an 11-4 score at PK Park.

It only took two batters for Tri-City to dent the scoreboard. 2B Will McGillis and CF Joe Redfield, the latter of whom returned to the lineup for the first time since getting hit in the helmet by a pitch August 8 in Vancouver, started the game with back-to-back doubles down the left field line off Eugene starter Hayden Wynja (3-4). Redfield’s two-bagger scored McGillis for a 1-0 lead, and LF Joe Stewart’s sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 game before most fans were settled in their seats, a.

The bases clear with two out, DH Alexander Ramirez singled to left center to restart the rally. 3B Caleb Ketchup, returning for his first game as a Dust Devil since August 6, singled behind to put runners on the corners and bring SS Andy Blake to the plate. The righty singled, also to left-center, plating Ramirez for a 3-0 lead before the Emeralds came to bat.

Mayhue (1-0) took the lead and ran with it, offering Tri-City a six-inning quality start in a spot start on three days’ rest. The southpaw from Shelby, North Carolina retired the first 13 Eugene batters he faced, giving up only a one-out double to Emeralds 1B Andrew Kachel in the bottom of the 5^th inning. Mayhue stranded him at second base, on the way to getting through six innings with four strikeouts in just 60 pitches.

The Dust Devils offense struck for three runs again in the top of the 4^th inning, getting out the lumber with two outs in the frame following a McGillis walk. Redfield and Stewart smacked back-to-back homers to double the lead, with Redfield’s first Tri-City homer a two-run line drive blast over the right field wall for a 5-0 Dust Devils advantage. Stewart’s solo shot, soaring out to left, made it 6-0 and knocked Wynja out of the game.

The remainder of the game’s runs came in the 8^th inning, in which Tri-City batted around for five runs. Ketchup began the frame with a single to left and then had an easy trot home when Blake blasted a ball over the left field wall for the second time in as many nights. The Hopewell, New Jersey native’s two-run homer pushed the Dust Devils lead to 8-0, and the hits kept coming from there, with RBI hits from Stewart (single), 1B Cam Williams (double) and Ramirez (single) to take the lead to 11-0. Ramirez turned in a three-hit night by legging out his infield hit.

Left-hander Will Sandy took over for Mayhue and, in so doing, made his Tri-City and High-A debut. The North Carolina Tar Heel absorbed a four-run rally in the bottom of the 8^th to finish the final three innings with five strikeouts and grab his first save as a Dust Devil.

A trio of Tri-City batters (Andy Blake, Joe Redfield and Joe Stewart) drove in three runs each as part of a 15-hit attack, one of the team’s better offensive showings of 2023. The win also gave the Dust Devils a share of the season series with the Emeralds and a chance to split their final road series of the season.

The Tri-City/Eugene series concludes with the finale at 4:05 p.m. Sunday afternoon at PK Park, where left-hander Erik Rivera (High-A debut) has been announced as the Dust Devils starter and southpaw Seth Corry (0-0, 4.50 ERA) the same for the Emeralds.

Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 3:45 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).