Dust Devils Dent Scoreboard Early and Often in Win over AquaSox

A steady offense and strong pitching from starter Sammy Natera, Jr., and the bullpen powered the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-12) to a 7-2 win over the Everett AquaSox (11-10) Tuesday night at Funko Field.

The visiting nine scored in each of its first five at-bats, first getting on the board in the top of the 1^st inning via a RF Alexander Ramirez two-out RBI single to center that scored 2B Arol Vera for a 1-0 lead. The lead doubled in the 2^nd inning when DH Steven Rivas launched a pitch from AquaSox starter Jordan Jackson (0-1) over the fence in right center for his first home run of 2023, making it 2-0 Dust Devils through two.

3B Osmy Gregorio came up with another two-out RBI hit in the 3^rd, sending one up the middle to center that scored 1B Gabe Matthews for a 3-0 Tri-City lead. The AquaSox scored twice in the bottom of the 3^rd, but Natera, Jr. (1-0), was able to induce a double play to end the inning and keep the lead.

The Dust Devils’ bats would get back to work in the 4^th and 5^th. C Myles Emmerson walked to lead off the 4^th, coming around via a walk, groundout and wild pitch to give Tri-City a 4-2 advantage. Two more Dust Devils came home in the 5^th, via RBI singles by Rivas and Vera to push the advantage to 6-2.

Natera, Jr., meanwhile, kept the AquaSox off the board, working around a couple of walks. The lefthander from Juarez, Mexico ended up getting through 5.1 innings, striking out five in his first win in professional baseball. He got some help, too, from the bullpen, with reliever Roman Phansalkar inducing another double play to get out of a bases loaded jam and preserve the lead in the 6^th.

Tri-City added a run in the 7^th via a Rivas sac fly for the final 7-2 margin. The Dust Devil DH, who homered twice in Everett in 2022, went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Ramirez went 2 for 5, continuing his strong hitting of late.

Relievers Nick Jones and Kelvin Caceres finished the job, with Jones ending a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the 7^th with two strikeouts. The lefty struck out four of the five batters he faced, handing it to Caceres, who struck out three in the 9^th to finish the night.

The Dust Devils and AquaSox meet up for game two of their six-game set at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night at Funko Field. Righty John Swanda (1-0, 2.60 ERA) will start for Tri-City, while Everett will send Reid Morgan (2-1, 5.21 ERA) to the mound.

Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

Following the series in Everett, the Dust Devils return home for a two-week homestand beginning Tuesday, May 9^th, against the Eugene Emeralds. It’s another Coca-Cola Tuesday, with 21 oz. Coke products for $2 all night.

Tickets for the upcoming homestand are on sale, with special ticket rates are 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).