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Emeralds Slug Way to Even Series with Dust Devils

July 21, 2024

Another big swing by the reigning Northwest League Player of the Week 3B Chad Stevens gave the Tri-City Dust Devils (7-16 2H) an early lead Saturday night, but Eugene Emeralds (11-12 2H) outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco’s two home runs pushed the visitors to a 5-3 win in front of 2,322 at

Another big swing by the reigning Northwest League Player of the Week 3B Chad Stevens gave the Tri-City Dust Devils (7-16 2H) an early lead Saturday night, but Eugene Emeralds (11-12 2H) outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco’s two home runs pushed the visitors to a 5-3 win in front of 2,322 at Gesa Stadium.

Stevens came up after 1B Matt Coutney drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the 1st and smashed a pitch from Eugene starter Manuel Mercedes well over the wall in left-center, giving Tri-City a 2-0 lead with his sixth home run for the Dust Devils this year. The Fox Island, Washington native has homered both in three of his last five games and four times in the month of July.

The lead would be short-lived for the home nine, though, with the Emeralds scoring twice in the top of the 2nd to tie the game. Nolasco got the visitors on the board with his first longball of the night, sending a pitch from Tri-City starter Ryan Costeiu over the left field wall to halve the lead at 2-1. 3B Justin Wishkoski’s RBI single later in the frame plated 2B Quinn McDaniel, who tripled following Nolasco’s homer, to bring things even at 2-2.

That tie also did not last long, as the Dust Devils took the lead back in the bottom of the 2nd. 2B Caleb Ketchup drew a one-out walk and then moved from first to third on a single to left-center by RF Werner Blakely. LF Landon Wallace came to the plate and hit a soft grounder to the left side, scoring Ketchup on an RBI groundout that gave Tri-City the lead back at 3-2.

Costeiu, still limited by pitch counts and innings restrictions, came out after 59 pitches having made it through 3.1 innings and piling up five strikeouts. He handed the baton to reliever Ryan Langford (0-2), who got two big outs to preserve the Dust Devils’ one-run advantage.

The top of the 5th proved to be both Langford and the home nine’s undoing and, once more, it was Nolasco doing the damage. 1B Bryce Eldridge and C Onil Perez singled to start the inning and set the table for the right-handed slugger, who lined up a Langford pitch and struck a scorched line drive for a second home run to left. The three-run blast, Nolasco’s tenth homer of the season between Eugene and High-A Greensboro of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, provided the final 5-3 margin.

Great bullpen work, beginning with reliever Jake Smith, kept the Dust Devils in the ballgame. The righty inherited a bases loaded, no out jam from Langford in the 5th and got out of it without allowing a run, finishing a perfect two-inning performance with a 1-2-3 top of the 6th. Carlos Espinosa followed with two scoreless frames of his own and lefty Dylan Phillips added a scoreless 9th to hold the line.

Emeralds relievers Trent Harris (5-2) and Cam Cotter matched their counterparts, though, with Harris throwing three scoreless innings for the win and Cotter posting two zeroes for his fourth save. The home nine managed five hits on the night, getting a multi-hit game from Werner Blakely (2-for-2, BB) out of the eighth spot in the lineup.

The series finale and rubber match of the three-game series between Tri-City, playing as Viñeros de Tri-City, and Eugene comes at 7:05 p.m. Sunday night at Gesa Stadium. It’s another Sundae Sunday presented by CO-Energy, with fans enjoying $2 ice cream sundaes throughout the ballgame as supplies last.

Right-hander Joel Hurtado (6-5, 5.00 ERA) takes the mound for the Viñeros, seeking his third win of the year over the Emeralds. Left-hander Cesar Perdomo (1-2, 5.00 ERA), who made his High-A debut weeks ago against Tri-City, will counter for Eugene.

Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. both here and on the MiLB app with video coverage on Bally Live and MiLB.tv.

Tri-City stays home after the short series for a full six-game set with the Everett AquaSox beginning Tuesday, July 23 and going through the weekend. Tickets for the Everett series, including the Columbia River Rooster Tails return for hydro race weekend, 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.