Tri-City Comeback Effort Cut Down by Eugene

The Tri-City Dust Devils (0-1 Second Half, 29-35) got the tying runs on base in a 9th inning rally, but the Eugene Emeralds (1-0 Second Half, 39-25) held on for a 5-3 win Friday night at PK Park.

The Dust Devils trailed 5-1 coming into the 9th, scoring two runs via RBI extra-base hits from Edwin Yon (a triple) and Christian Molfetta (a double, his second hit of the night). Jose Guzman drew a walk to get to first as the potential tying run, but the Emeralds called on closer Nicholas Avila to get the final out, striking out Jordyn Adams for his tenth save.

Eugene got most of its runs on one swing, a 3rd inning grand slam by Hunter Bishop off Tri-City’s Jose Salvador (1-2). Salvador struck out eight Emeralds in just 3.1 innings of work, but he walked four, including three in a row before the Bishop grand slam. Houston Harding and Nathan Burns covered the rest, with Harding’s 3.2 scoreless innings his longest outing of the season.

In the 6th inning a strange series of events allowed Tri-City to get on the board. D’Shawn Knowles bunted in front of home plate, reaching via a bunt single. An errant throw to first base by Eugene backup catcher Robert Emery, who came in mid-inning due to an injury, allowed Knowles to get to second. Knowles then scored on a second throwing error by Emery, on a dropped third strike to Kyren Paris, making it a 5-1 game.

The run was the only run Emeralds starter Nick Swiney (3-2) would give up. The southpaw struck out 12 Dust Devils in six innings of work, getting his second win of the year against the Dust Devils.

Tri-City and Eugene meet for game six of their seven-game series at 5:05 p.m. Saturday evening, with two righties squaring off: Ryan Costeiu for the Dust Devils, and Randy Rodriguez for the Emeralds.

You can listen to the game at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app, with the King Beverage Budweiser Pregame Show beginning at 4:50 p.m.

Tickets for Tri-City’s next home series, June 28-July 3 against the Hillsboro Hops, 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.