Emeralds Even Series with Dust Devils

A day after the Tri-City Dust Devils (27-26) scored double-digit runs to grab a win, the Eugene Emeralds (27-26) turned the tables and evened the series with a 10-5 win over Tri-City at Gesa Stadium.

The Dust Devils got off to another flying start in the top of the 1^st inning. CF D’Shawn Knowles and 2B Adrian Placencia both singled up the middle off Eugene starter John Michael Bertrand to start the game, putting two on with no one out. SS Arol Vera drew a one-out walk to load the bases, which RF Alexander Ramirez promptly emptied with a 3-run double down the left field line, giving the “visitors” a 3-0 lead before the Emeralds came up to the plate.

Tri-City starter Cole Percival (0-1) worked a scoreless 1^st inning and got two outs to start off the 2^nd. Eugene’s offense went to work from there, putting together a two-out rally that was capped by a 2-run double by RF Victor Bericoto and aided by an error to score five times and take a 5-3 lead through two innings.

The Dust Devils answered in the top of the 3^rd with a two-out rally of their own. Vera doubled to left, Ramirez walked and LF Osmy Gregorio singled sharply to right field to load the bases. One of Tri-City’s newest additions, DH Ryan Hernandez, then drew a bases loaded walk to score Vera and earn his first RBI as a Dust Devil. Though they got a run closer, Tri-City left the bases loaded and trailed 5-4 going to the bottom of the 3^rd.

There the Emeralds would strike again, driving Percival out of the game and scoring three runs in the process. 2B Edison Mora’s opposite field triple both brought in a run and set up another when he scored on an RBI groundout by CF Grant McCray to give Eugene an 8-4 lead after three innings.

Again, the Dust Devils would answer back, scoring a run in the 4^th after loading the bases via a Knowles single and walks to Placencia and 1B Gabe Matthews. Emeralds reliever Ben Madison (7-1) uncorked two wild pitches in the inning, the second scoring Knowles from third to bring Tri-City within an 8-5 margin through three-and-a-half.

The scored stayed there all the way to the 8^th inning, with Eugene relievers retiring 13 Dust Devil batters in a row at one point. In the bottom of the frame the combination of Grant McCray and Victor Bericoto did more damage, with McCray hitting an RBI triple to right-center and Bericoto an RBI double to the base of the left field wall. Both McCray and Bericoto went 3 for 5 on the night, with McCray driving in four runs and Bericoto three.

For the Dust Devils, D’Shawn Knowles went 2 for 5 at the top the order and scored two runs. Arol Vera also scored twice, going 1 for 3 with a walk. Both Gabe Matthews (13 games) and Adrian Placencia (12 games) continued on-base streaks, and Alexander Ramirez’s bases-clearing double extended his hitting streak to seven games. On the mound, Tri-City got two scoreless innings of relief from Roman Phansalkar. The righty from Oklahoma has given up only one run in his last five outings, totaling 14.1 innings of work going back to May 17.

The Dust Devils will look to bounce back in game three of their six-game series with the Emeralds at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Gesa Stadium. Tri-City, playing again as the road team, will send right-hander Chase Chaney (4-1, 2.86 ERA) to the mound and Eugene will counter with righty Nick Sinacola (0-1, 5.21 ERA). Broadcast coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

Tickets for the weekend’s games are available for $5 per game, including some sections of the lower boxes, and can be purchased both online and in-person at the Dust Devils main office during the day from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and at the box office before the game. As well, full season ticket holders receive their seats as part of their ticket package and are asked to call the office at (509) 544-8789 to have tickets either placed in Will Call or delivered electronically.

The next homestand for the Dust Devils begins Tuesday, June 13, when they host the Everett AquaSox on both a Trivia and Coca-Cola Tuesday. Tickets for the Everett 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).