Emeralds Leave Dust Devils Feeling Green
EUGENE – The rubber match of the three-game set between the top two teams in the Northwest League Second Half standings stayed tight a good while through Sunday afternoon, but the bats of the Tri-City Dust Devils (14-10 2H, 44-46) could not get going in a 4-0 loss to the
EUGENE – The rubber match of the three-game set between the top two teams in the Northwest League Second Half standings stayed tight a good while through Sunday afternoon, but the bats of the Tri-City Dust Devils (14-10 2H, 44-46) could not get going in a 4-0 loss to the Eugene Emeralds (18-5 2H, 50-39) that gave the Ems a series win at PK Park.
Tri-City starter Ryan Costeiu (3-5) kept the visitors in the game in his five innings on the mound, giving up two runs on seven hits and striking out five. While Costeiu walked four on the day, he managed to execute pitches in big moments to strand a total of nine runners during his outing.
The Dust Devils lineup, though, could not solve the riddle that was Eugene starter Shane Rademacher (6-5), who went 5.2 shutout innings and allowed only three hits while striking out four and issuing no free passes. The visitors would not get multiple runners on base until Rademacher left the game, loading the bases in the 7th and bringing the tying run to the plate down 4-0.
LF Rio Foster came up and hit a hard grounder to third. There, Emeralds 3B Cole Foster fielded it, stepped on third and threw across the diamond for a double play that ended Tri-City’s best scoring threat of the day. All four hits for the Dust Devils were singles, coming off the bats of CF Anthony Scull (1st inning), C Peter Burns (3rd inning), Foster (5th inning) and 3B Arol Vera (7th inning).
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-2B Adrian Placencia’s 26-game on-base streak came to an end in Sunday’s game, with Placi going 0-for-4. He nearly hit a two-run home run in his final at-bat of the day, sending a fly ball deep to right in the top of the 8th that Eugene RF Jakob Christian caught reaching up against the top of the fence in right field.
-Relievers Sandy Gastón and Najer Victor each pitched a scoreless inning to keep Tri-City within range in the game. Victor has now pitched scoreless outings in six of his last seven appearances on the mound.
-Eugene took an 8-7 lead in the season series with the victory. The teams will face off in one more six-game series August 12-17 at Gesa Stadium, the Dust Devils’ penultimate home series of the 2025 regular season.
RUN FOR THE HILLS…OF HILLSBORO
Tri-City heads north to take on the Hillsboro Hops in a six-game series at Hillsboro Ballpark beginning at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday night, July 22. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday’s games will also start at 6:35 p.m., with Friday’s game getting a 7:05 p.m. first pitch and Sunday’s contest a 1:05 p.m. afternoon matinee. Pitching matchups have yet to be announced.
Broadcast coverage of the series, available for free at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app, begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show 20 minutes before first pitch. Tuesday night’s pregame will begin at 6:15 p.m.
After their last visit to the Silicon Forest, Tri-City heads home to host the Vancouver Canadians for six games starting Tuesday, July 29 at 7:05 p.m.
For tickets to the Vancouver series, and all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.