Emeralds Rally Late, Leave Dust Devils Green with Envy
Starter Joel Hurtado threw six innings of one-run ball for the Tri-City Dust Devils (0-4 2H) to put his team in position to win its series opener against the Eugene Emeralds (1-3 2H), but Eugene burst out for five runs in the bottom of the 8th on the way to
Starter Joel Hurtado threw six innings of one-run ball for the Tri-City Dust Devils (0-4 2H) to put his team in position to win its series opener against the Eugene Emeralds (1-3 2H), but Eugene burst out for five runs in the bottom of the 8th on the way to a 6-2 win Tuesday night at PK Park.
The lone run Hurtado gave up came on a double steal executed in the bottom of the 3rd inning, two innings after catcher Juan Flores ended a similar attempt by firing out would-be Eugene base stealer SS Diego Velasquez to end the bottom of the 1st. The successful steal scored DH Thomas Gavello, who had walked to get aboard, and tied the game at 1-1.
It tied the game due to Tri-City taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by CF Joe Redfield in the top of the 3rd that scored RF Werner Blakely, who had reached on a fielder’s choice. The 1-1 tie, just like the 1-0 lead, would not last long either as 1B Matt Coutney and 3B Chad Stevens started the 4th with a pair of doubles. Stevens’s double ended up an RBI two-bagger that scored Coutney and gave the Dust Devils a 2-1 lead that held to the bottom of the 8th.
Hurtado got through six despite not having his best stuff, issuing more free passes than strikeouts (4 BB/1 HBP against 3 Ks) but getting himself out of jams for a third quality start in the month of June. The righty from Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic has struck out 28 batters in five June starts and has the assignment to start for Sunday as well.
Reliever Roman Phansalkar (0-1) took care of the Emeralds in the 7th and came back out for the 8th. After getting the first man out the righty gave up back-to-back hits to 1B Andrew Kachel (a single) and LF Rodolfo Nolasco (RBI double) that brought the game even at 2-2. Eugene would take their first lead of the game later in the frame on an RBI infield single with two out by 3B Justin Wishkoski, a check swing that found its way over the mound and short enough toward second to score the go-ahead run for a 3-2 advantage.
C Zach Morgan walked and brought up Gavello, who capped his night with a 3-run home run to right-center for major insurance runs and the 6-2 final score.
Tri-City hit five doubles on the night, one each for the top five batters in the order (Redfield, Placencia, Coutney, Stevens and Williams). Blakely and 2B Caleb Ketchup added singles alongside Redfield, who had the lone two-hit night for the Dust Devils.
Game two of the six-game series between Tri-City and Eugene has been scheduled for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch Wednesday night at PK Park. Right-hander Jorge Marcheco (2-4, 5.62 ERA) gets the nod for the Dust Devils, taking on righty Manuel Mercedes (2-5, 5.21 ERA) of the Emeralds.
Broadcast coverage of Wednesday night’s game begins with the pregame show at 6:15 p.m. both here and on the MiLB app.
Tri-City returns home for an abbreviated three-game series with the Spokane Indians starting Monday, 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.