Largest Crowd of Season Sees Sterling Offense, On-Target Pitching in Tri-City Win

Down 3-0 early, the Tri-City Dust Devils (3-6 2H, 32-40) rallied in the middle innings for a 7-5 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (5-4 2H, 34-39) Sunday night at Gesa Stadium.

A crowd of 3,276 came out for postgame patriotic fireworks but the Dust Devils had a few of their own during the game, including Jose Guzman doubling and tripling as part of a 2 for 4 night with a walk and 2 RBI.

Guzman’s triple, inside the bag down the right field line and into the corner to lead off the 4th inning, put him 90 feet away. Osmy Gregorio followed with a grounder through the left side for an RBI single, making it a 3-1 game.

After the Hops scored to extend the lead to 4-1, Guzman brought Tri-City within a run in the 5th with a two-run double to the right-center field wall, scoring Mike Peabody and Kyren Paris for a 4-3 score.

The Dust Devils grabbed the lead in the 6th, sending all nine to the plate and scoring three runs. Steven Rivas doubled to left-center off Hillsboro reliever Hugh Fisher (2-5), scoring D’Shawn Knowles to tie the game at 4-4. A bases-loaded walk to Peabody gave Tri-City a 5-4 lead, which would grow to 6-4 on a balk by the Hops’ Jose Santamaria.

After Hillsboro scored to get back within a run, the Dust Devils restored their two-run lead in the 7th inning via a two-out single by Christian Molfetta, scoring Gabe Matthews from second.

Overall, the Tri-City offense was a true team effort, with eight of the nine batters getting hits and seven of the Dust Devils’ lineup scoring a run each for the win.

Kyle Molnar (3-0) gave up an unearned run in 2+ innings of relief, covering the 6th and 7th innings for the win. Emilker Guzman got the final six outs for his third save of 2022.

Though the Hops took the series four games to two, Tri-City takes positive momentum into their six-game series with the Spokane Indians beginning with a special Independence Day game at 7:05 p.m. Monday night at Avista Stadium. The teams will then take Tuesday off before resuming the series Wednesday.

The broadcast of Monday’s 4th of July game begins at 6:50 p.m. with the King Beverage Budweiser Pregame Show. You can tune in at dustdevilsbaseball.com and on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Tickets for the Dust Devils' next home series, July 12-17 against Everett, and all games are on sale now. Ticket packages are also available and start at just $99, and 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 or call 509-544-8789.