First Inning Four-Spot Sends Tri-City Past Everett
Four hits in a row to start their night at the plate turned into four early runs Tuesday night for the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-16 2H), who led wire-to-wire in a 5-2 win over the Everett AquaSox (10-15 2H) that opened the week’s six-game series at Gesa Stadium. The visitors
Four hits in a row to start their night at the plate turned into four early runs Tuesday night for the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-16 2H), who led wire-to-wire in a 5-2 win over the Everett AquaSox (10-15 2H) that opened the week’s six-game series at Gesa Stadium.
The visitors from the Snohomish County seat scored in their first at-bat, taking a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single by RF Lazaro Montes in the top of the 1st inning. Their only lead of the night would last all of two batters, with a resurgent Tri-City offense getting quickly to work.
LF Joe Redfield led off the bottom of the 1st by legging out an infield hit. SS Adrian Placencia then followed by lining a pitch from Everett starter Shaddon Peavyhouse (2-5) to right-center for an RBI double that scored Redfield and tied the game at 1-1. A third straight hit, an RBI single by 1B Matt Coutney to left-center, put the Dust Devils in front 2-1 and marked the only lead change of the night.
3B Chad Stevens kept the train moving with a broken bat blooper to right, putting runners at first and second with no one out. DH Kevin Bruggeman then moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and C Juan Flores cashed in with a two-run single chopped up the middle through a drawn-in infield to push the lead out to 4-1.
Tri-City lefty Houston Harding (2-1) set the tone from there, continuing a strong run of starts for Tri-City by striking out a career-high nine batters in his third consecutive five-inning start. The Mississippian southpaw gave up the AquaSox’s two runs on four hits, walking only one while using timing hesitations in his wind-up and his diving changeup to keep Everett off-balance.
The Dust Devils stretched the lead back to three in the bottom of the 5th inning on an RBI single the opposite way by Bruggeman, who joined Juan Flores and Chad Stevens as one of three Tri-City batters with multi-hit nights. The Dust Devils bullpen took care of the rest, combining for four scoreless innings to put the game in the win column. Glenn Albanese and Dylan Phillips both posted a zero on the board in their inning on the mound and Carlos Espinosa struck out three AquaSox in covering the last two frames for his first save of 2024.
Game two of the six-game set between Tri-City and Everett, scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night, falls on another Weenie Wednesday at Gesa Stadium presented by Vern’s Food Service. Fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs throughout the ballgame, as supplies last.
The AquaSox will send right-hander Ty Cummings (3-5, 4.67 ERA) to the mound, while the probable starter for the Dust Devils has not been announced as of press time. Broadcast coverage of the game will begin 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.
Tickets for the Everett series, including the return of the Columbia River Rooster Tails Friday-Sunday in honor of hydroplane 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.