Dust Devils Spun Out by Indians in Home Opener
The Tri-City Dust Devils (1-3) could not match the stout pitching and big slugging of the Spokane Indians (4-0) Tuesday night, falling 4-0 in front of 1,970 fans who otherwise enjoyed the 2024 return of Northwest League baseball to Gesa Stadium. Tri-City had two hits on the night, singles by
The Tri-City Dust Devils (1-3) could not match the stout pitching and big slugging of the Spokane Indians (4-0) Tuesday night, falling 4-0 in front of 1,970 fans who otherwise enjoyed the 2024 return of Northwest League baseball to Gesa Stadium.
Tri-City had two hits on the night, singles by RF Jadiel Sanchez (1st inning) and DH Will McGillis (7th inning). Both 1B Matt Coutney and Sanchez also drew walks but the home bats found themselves largely befuddled by Spokane pitching, especially southpaw starter Mason Green (1-0). The lefty threw six shutout innings, allowing only the Sanchez single and the Coutney walk and striking out four in a quality start.
Dust Devils starter Chris Clark (0-1) got off to a great start, posting three scoreless innings to start his night. The 4th inning proved to be his undoing, though, with the Indians scoring three runs via an RBI single and a long two-run home run over the left field wall by Spokane DH Jesus Bugarin. Clark went five innings, giving up four runs on four hits and striking out three in his first start at the High-A level.
Tri-City’s bullpen had another strong night, throwing four scoreless frames. Reliever Jake Smith had two of the four, giving up a hit that turned into a wild play. Indians 1B Bryant Betancourt hit a ball into the right field corner, allowing him to grab a triple. The throw from right field briefly got away from the cut-off man, spurring Betancourt to try to get home. Dust Devils SS Denzer Guzman got to the ball and threw home, where C Alberto Rios applied the tag and denied Betancourt a possible “little league home run.”
Those coming through the Gesa Stadium gates still enjoyed a great night out at the ballpark, with a postgame fireworks crescendo presented by CO-Energy to salute the return of baseball season. The first 500 fans also received a magnet schedule thanks to Tri-Cities Community Health.
Tri-City and Spokane will meet up for game two of their six-game series at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Gesa Stadium, where it’s Welcome Back Wednesday. Fans wearing Dust Devils, Rooster Tails and/or Viñeros gear will have chances to win prizes throughout the night.
Left-hander Erik Rivera (0-0, 0.00 ERA in two 2023 appearances for Tri-City) will get the start for the Dust Devils, with right-hander Blake Adams (0-2, 6.10 ERA in eight starts for Spokane in 2023) countering for the Indians.
Broadcast coverage will begin with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m. Wednesday night, both here and on the MiLB app. Video coverage, via MiLB.tv, will begin shortly before the scheduled 6:30 p.m. first pitch.
Tickets for the Spokane series, including the first Rooster Tails game of 2024 on Saturday, April 13, 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 the team’s official ticketing site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.