Tri-City Taters Twice to Thwart Everett, Win Third Straight

Two-out home runs by LF Joe Stewart and SS Arol Vera provided the offense for the Tri-City Dust Devils (10-12) Wednesday night, giving starter John Swanda and two relievers enough support for a 3-2 win over the Everett AquaSox (11-11) at Funko Field.

Stewart’s home run, off AquaSox starter Reid Morgan (2-2), hit the videoboard in left-center field. The Michigander’s first home run of 2023 gave the Dust Devils a 1-0 1^st inning lead, and he was not done. Stewart ended up going 3 for 4 with a triple alongside his home run, falling just a double shy of the cycle.

From there a pitcher’s duel developed, with Swanda (2-0) and Morgan keeping both sides off the board to the bottom of the 4^th inning. There Everett C Charlie Welch knocked a two-out single into left-center, scoring RF Alberto Rodriguez to tie the game at 1-1.

The tie would not last long. Tri-City C Myles Emmerson extended the top of the 5^th inning with a two-out single, bringing Vera to the plate. The Valencia, Venezuela native sent a high fly ball over the right field fence and on to the grassy berm past it for his first round-tripper of 2023.

The two-run shot, Vera’s second hit of the game, gave the Dust Devils a 3-1 lead.

Swanda posted a scoreless bottom of the 5^th to be the pitcher of record. The Iowan righty gave up a run on four hits in his five innings of work, striking out five for his second win in as many starts.

The Tri-City bullpen took the torch from there. Willian Suarez covered the 6^th and 7^th innings, giving up a run in the 6^th but keeping the lead with some help from his battery mate Emmerson. The catcher fired a pickoff throw behind AquaSox CF Walking Cabrera at first, with 1B Gabe Matthews applying the tag to end the inning.

Suarez handed a 3-2 lead to Robinson Piña, who dominated the final two innings for his first save of 2023. Piña retired all six Everett batters in order and struck out five of them, including the side in the 9^th to finish the game.

The Dust Devils overcame AquaSox pitching striking them out 19 times in the game, with the starter Morgan responsible for 11 in his 5.2 innings of work. The win also gave the team its third straight win and, relatedly, its second winning streak of the season.

Tri-City will go for four in a row in game three of the six-game set in Everett at 7:05 p.m. Thursday night. Righty Connor Van Scoyoc (0-2, 3.07 ERA) will start for the Dust Devils, with lefty Reid VanScoter (2-1, 1.80 ERA) countering for the AquaSox.

Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

Following the series in Everett, the Dust Devils return home for a two-week homestand beginning Tuesday, May 9^th, against the Eugene Emeralds. It’s another Coca-Cola Tuesday, with 21 oz. Coke products for $2 all night.

Tickets for the upcoming homestand are on sale, with 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).