Dust Devils Rally Twice, Take Down Emeralds

SS Adrian Placencia’s clutch RBI single with two outs in the top of the 9^th inning got the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-7 2H) back to the winner’s circle Saturday night, with the visitors holding on for a 5-3 win over the Eugene Emeralds (4-4 2H) at PK Park.

Placencia came up with 2B/LF Caleb Ketchup on third and CF Landon Wallace on first, taking on Eugene reliever Trent Harris (2-1) in a 3-3 tie. The switch-hitting infielder took the first pitch he saw and looped a hit to right-center that scored Ketchup with ease. Emeralds RF Rodolfo Nolasco then struggled to handle it, getting charged with an error that gave Wallace the chance to sprint all the way around to score a second run that provided the final margin.

Dust Devils reliever Luke Murphy came in for the final three outs, collecting his first save for Tri-City since he closed out Eugene on August 28, 2021 at Gesa Stadium.

The Emeralds scored twice to erase a hard-earned 3-1 Dust Devils lead in the bottom of the 8^th. Walks gave the Emeralds multiple chances with runners at third, the first of which they cashed in via a sacrifice fly by 1B Bryce Eldridge. Tri-City flame-thrower Jose Fermin (1-1) later came in with two out in the inning to preserve the lead but lost a fastball high, a wild pitch that scored the tying run. He came back, though, to put up a strikeout and keep the game even to the 9^th.

Previous to that the Dust Devils, who trailed 1-0 after a 6^th inning RBI ground rule double by Eldridge, grabbed the lead in the 7^th. They loaded the bases with one out via walks to both C Kevin Bruggeman and Ketchup and an infield single by 2B Will McGillis. Wallace then came up and hit a hard grounder up the middle that was grabbed and flipped to second for a force out and nothing more, scoring Bruggeman on an RBI fielder’s choice to tie the game at 1-1. Ketchup moved to third on the play, joined in scoring position by Wallace when he stole second.

LF/RF Joe Redfield then came up and delivered a single the opposite way to left, bringing in both Ketchup and Wallace for a 3-1 advantage in a game where all the runs were scored in the later stages. In the end it was Tri-City who came up with the big hits required in big moments to win a game and stop a seven-game losing streak.

Tri-City starter Houston Harding, making a spot start, pitched brilliantly on short notice, throwing five scoreless innings and giving up only one hit while striking out four. The lefty from Walls, Mississippi matched Eugene starter Jack Choate, who threw five scoreless frames of his own.

The finale of the six-game series between the Dust Devils and Emeralds has been scheduled for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch late Sunday afternoon at PK Park. The probable starters set up a rematch from Tuesday’s series opener with right-hander Joel Hurtado (5-4, 4.56 ERA) going for Tri-City and southpaw Joe Whitman (0-0, 2.25 ERA) taking the ball for Eugene.

Broadcast coverage of Sunday’s finale begins with the pregame show at 3:45 p.m. both here and on the MiLB app.

After the game Tri-City returns home and turns around quickly for an abbreviated three-game series with the Spokane Indians beginning Monday night, July 1, at Gesa Stadium. Tickets for the Spokane series are on sale now with special ticket rates 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 the team’s official ticketing site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.