Game Gets Away from Dust Devils Late
A chance to grab their first home win of 2024 slipped through the grasp of the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-5) Thursday night at Gesa Stadium, where the Spokane Indians (6-0) scored twice in the 9th inning to take a 4-3 win. Tri-City held a 3-2 lead going into the top
A chance to grab their first home win of 2024 slipped through the grasp of the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-5) Thursday night at Gesa Stadium, where the Spokane Indians (6-0) scored twice in the 9th inning to take a 4-3 win.
Tri-City held a 3-2 lead going into the top of the 9th inning, with reliever Cam Minacci (0-2) continuing on from finishing the 8th to try and get the save. Spokane led the inning off with a single from RF Jesus Bugarin, who then exited when Parker Kelly pinch ran for him. Kelly moved to second when C Jesus Ordoñez drew a one-out walk, putting the go-ahead run aboard. 2B Braiden Ward then tied the game by slashing a double down the left field line, scoring Kelly to draw the Indians even at 3-3.
Minacci rebounded to strike out the next batter but issued a second walk, this time to SS Dyan Jorge, that loaded the bases. Jake Smith then came in, tasked with stranding the bases loaded with Spokane 3B Kyle Karros at the plate. The two battled to a full count but Smith’s payoff pitch came in outside, an RBI walk for Karros that scored Ordoñez for what ended up the deciding run.
Indians reliever Tyler Ahearn (1-0) pitched a perfect 8th inning to get the win, while sidewinding lefty Felix Ramires threw a 1-2-3 9th for the save.
The Dust Devils had grabbed the lead in the 5th inning, scoring twice via 2B Caleb Ketchup’s RBI double to tie the game at 2-2 and RF Joe Stewart’s RBI single to take the lead. The team’s first run of the night, a fielder’s choice grounder hit by 1B Matt Coutney, came in the 4th inning after 3B Ben Gobbel reached via error. Gobbel stole second and moved to third on an errant attempt to catch him stealing before sliding in to home just before the tag.
Though receiving a no-decision, Tri-City starter Joel Hurtado put together a second strong performance to open his 2024 season. The young Dust Devils hurler went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out eight Indians along the way.
Game four of the six-game series between Tri-City and Spokane comes at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Gesa Stadium. It’s a Family Feast Night presented by Tee Time, a new indoor miniature golf course coming soon to the Tri-Cities. Hot dogs, 12 oz. Coca-Cola products, ice cream sandwiches, chips and Laffy Taffy can be enjoyed for $2 each all night.
Crafty right-hander Jorge Marcheco (0-1, 5.79 ERA) will get the start for the Dust Devils, facing off against highly-touted Indians righty Chase Dollander (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Broadcast coverage will begin with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m. Friday 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 night, 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.