Indians Inhibit Dust Devils
The Tri-City Dust Devils (0-2 2H, 34-34) slugged two home runs for a two-run lead Saturday night, but the Spokane Indians (2-0 2H, 35-32) rallied for a 6-4 win at Avista Stadium to force the visitors to earn a series split with a win Sunday. Tri-City fell behind 2-0 in
The Tri-City Dust Devils (0-2 2H, 34-34) slugged two home runs for a two-run lead Saturday night, but the Spokane Indians (2-0 2H, 35-32) rallied for a 6-4 win at Avista Stadium to force the visitors to earn a series split with a win Sunday.
Tri-City fell behind 2-0 in the 1st inning via a hit batter, a single and two errors. Starter Bryce Osmond, whose error on an attempted double play brought home the first run of the game, settled in from there and got through four innings without allowing any more runs.
The Dust Devils got to work at the plate in the middle innings, beginning in the 4th inning. 1B Matt Coutney and 3B Werner Blakely singled back-to-back to put two on with one out. LF Gustavo Campero then came up with two and turned the game around, launching a pitch from Spokane starter Victor Juarez deep over the right field fence and into the parking lot for a three-run home run and a 3-2 Tri-City lead. The blast was the Colombian’s fifth home run of 2023.
Coutney would add another run the following frame, lining a pitch from Indians reliever Anderson Bido (1-1) over the right field wall for his first home run at the High-A level and a 4-2 Tri-City advantage midway through the game.
The Indians then turned the tables in the bottom of the 5th, scoring four runs off Dust Devils reliever Dylan Phillips (0-1) to retake the lead. The inning included four hits and a third error, on an attempted play at the plate gone wrong, that allowed an extra run to score on the play. Spokane led 6-4 after five innings and protected the lead from there, with reliever Bryce McGowan picking up his first save for the Indians.
Four players for Tri-City had multi-hit games, with RF Joe Stewart joining Werner Blakely, Gustavo Campero and Matt Coutney in the two-hit department. C Myles Emmerson and CF D’Shawn Knowles each added a single to give the Dust Devils ten hits on the evening. Also, relievers Erik Martinez and Emilker Guzman combined for three scoreless innings of relief. Martinez got himself into a bases loaded, no-out jam in the 6th but got out of it via a force out at home and back-to-back strikeouts.
Tri-City and Spokane meet for a Sunday afternoon series finale at 1:05 p.m. at Avista Stadium. A pair of southpaws will get the start: Sammy Natera, Jr. (1-4, 4.21 ERA) for the Dust Devils and Colten Schmidt (0-1, 2.45 ERA) for the Indians. Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 12:45 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
Tickets for the Dust Devils' next home series, June 28-July 3 against the Hillsboro Hops, 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 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).
TRADING SPACES: The parent clubs of Tri-City and Spokane, the Los Angeles Angels and the Colorado Rockies, announced a trade following the Halos’ historic 25-1 victory over the Rockies Saturday night at Coors Field. The Angels sent RHP Connor Van Scoyoc, who had been a mainstay in the Dust Devils’ rotation, to the Rockies in exchange for infielder Mike Moustakas. Both players packed up and took short walks to join their teams, Moustakas moving to the visitors’ clubhouse in Denver and Van Scoyoc joining the home team in Spokane.