Sorry, Not Sorrey: Dust Devils Drop Canadians, Win Third Straight
A big night at the plate by LF Alexander Ramirez and six strong innings from starter Connor Van Scoyoc powered the Tri-City Dust Devils (18-17) to their third straight win, a 7-3 victory over the Vancouver Canadians (17-15) Thursday night at Gesa Stadium. Van Scoyoc (2-2) gave the Dust Devils
A big night at the plate by LF Alexander Ramirez and six strong innings from starter Connor Van Scoyoc powered the Tri-City Dust Devils (18-17) to their third straight win, a 7-3 victory over the Vancouver Canadians (17-15) Thursday night at Gesa Stadium.
Van Scoyoc (2-2) gave the Dust Devils his third quality start of the season, going six innings and giving up two runs on three hits, striking out four and walking two. He faced the minimum through the first four innings, inducing a double play in the 2nd inning to wipe out a leadoff walk.
Ramirez went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs on the night. The first came on a double to left-center field in the bottom of the 2nd that scored SS Arol Vera, who singled in front of him. Ramirez, who moved to third on the throw home on his double, scored to make it 2-0 when Canadians starter Adam Macko (1-2) threw a wild pitch that went to the backstop.
Tri-City added another run in the 3rd inning. CF Joe Stewart hit a grounder to shortstop, where Vancouver SS Josh Kasevich fielded the ball but lost his footing setting to throw. The play, ruled an error, put Stewart on first base. DH Adrian Placencia came up and singled to left field, with Stewart attempting to go from first to third. Canadians LF Devonte Brown geared up to throw but the ball went under his glove and behind him for a second error for the visitors, allowing Stewart to score for a 3-0 lead.
Vancouver got on the board in the 5th inning. DH Riley Tirotta hit a hard grounder inside the first base bag and down the right field line for an opposite field double, the team’s first hit of the night. 2B Michael Turconi followed by pulling a single to right, scoring Tirotta to narrow the Dust Devil lead to 3-1. Canadians DH Gabby Martinez then drew his team a run closer in the 6th inning with a one-out home run over the left field wall, cutting the home nine’s lead to 3-2.
In the bottom of the 6th, though, the Tri-City offense pushed back. Ramirez again came through, lining a two-run single up the middle that scored both Vera and 3B Werner Blakely to restore the three-run advantage at 5-2. RF D’Shawn Knowles added a two-out RBI single to left to score Ramirez to push the lead to 6-2 through six innings.
The Canadians continued to attempt a comeback charge, getting a run back on a 8th inning solo home run by Devonte Brown to make it 6-3. The Dust Devils answered once more, though, with a run in the bottom of the inning and, once more, it was Ramirez doing the damage. He capped off his great night by singling to right, scoring 1B Gabe Matthews for the final 7-3 margin.
The run ended up a manner of insurance as Vancouver got two aboard in the 9th inning. Reliever Nick Jones then entered the game and got the final two outs in what had become a save situation, giving him his first save of 2023.
The win moved Tri-City above .500 for the first time since their Opening Night win over Hillsboro on April 6, with the team currently holding a 10-5 record in the month of May.
The Dust Devils and Canadians will play two on Friday, a doubleheader to make up an April 16 game lost to rain in Vancouver. It’s a Family Feast Night presented by UScellular, with hot dogs, 12 oz. Coke products, bags of chips, ice cream sandwiches and Laffy Taffy ropes available for $2 during both games.
The first game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m., with Tri-City sending southpaw Sammy Natera, Jr. (1-1, 2.11) to the mound and Vancouver countering with the reigning Northwest League Pitcher of the Week, lefty Trenton Wallace (4-1, 1.80). Game two, with the Canadians the home team, will come 45 minutes after the first contest. The Dust Devils will go with lefty Nick Mondak (1-1, 3.45) to start, while righty Rafael Sanchez (5-0, 2.27 in six starts at Single-A Dunedin) will make his High-A debut for Vancouver.
Broadcast coverage of the twin-bill begins with the pregame show at 4:40 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
Tickets for both Friday's doubleheader and the weekend’s games are on sale now. Also, 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, 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).