Spokane Opens Floodgates on Columbia River
A Spokane Indians (26-23) offense held below its averages for the first four games of its series with the Tri-City Dust Devils (25-25) roared to life Saturday night, putting up double-digit runs in a 10-2 win at Gesa Stadium. A night after the Dust Devils, playing as the Columbia River
A Spokane Indians (26-23) offense held below its averages for the first four games of its series with the Tri-City Dust Devils (25-25) roared to life Saturday night, putting up double-digit runs in a 10-2 win at Gesa Stadium.
A night after the Dust Devils, playing as the Columbia River Rooster Tails, used a 6-run inning to grab an 11-3 win, the visitors stitched together a 5-run 4th to surge to a big lead. The first six runners of the inning reached via two walks and four hits, the last a 3-run double by SS Nic Kent. The traffic on the basepaths was largely charged to Tri-City starter Sammy Natera, Jr. (1-3), who struck out three but could not get out of the 4th.
Before the 5-spot the Dust Devils, again as the Rooster Tails, had cut an early 2-0 Indians lead in half in the bottom of the 3rd inning. CF Joe Stewart legged out an infield single and then stole second base, getting into scoring position with DH Gabe Matthews at the plate. The lefty lined a single to center to score Stewart and make it a 2-1 game, but that was as close as the home side would get.
Spokane would add three more to their tally in the later innings, leading 10-1 going to the bottom of the 9th. Tri-City would not go down without putting another run on the board, though, via a 3B Werner Blakely walk and a two-out double by RF D’Shawn Knowles.
Indians starter Victor Juarez (4-2) went six innings, giving up a run on five hits and grabbing his second win at Gesa Stadium in 2023. The righty has now thrown 13 innings against the Dust Devils/Rooster Tails this year, giving up only two runs in two starts.
Though the game did not go Tri-City/Columbia River’s way, the crowd enjoyed two multi-hit games from both Stewart (2-5) and LF Steven Rivas (2-4). Most all the 2,911 fans at Gesa Stadium Saturday night also stayed to enjoy a stellar postgame fireworks show presented by CBC Foundation.
Spokane now leads the series three games to two. The Rooster Tails will once more take the field in the finale of the six-gamer with the Indians at 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, looking for a series split. The last scheduled day game of 2023 will also be Fantasy Baseball Day, presented by D-Bat Columbia Basin. Fans will receive player cards and score points based on the game’s action, with the chance to be a top scorer and win a prize.
Columbia River will send right-hander Connor Van Scoyoc (2-3, 2.68 ERA) to the mound for his second start of the series. Spokane will counter with righty Brayan Castillo (1-3, 7.52 ERA). Broadcast coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 1:10 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
Tickets for Sunday's matinee 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).