Sanchez’s Stellar Sunday Stirs Tri-City to Split

Jadiel Sanchez went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs to lead the attack for the Tri-City Dust Devils (8-13) Sunday afternoon, helping his team to an 8-5 victory over the Everett AquaSox (7-14) at Gesa Stadium that secured a second straight series split.

The Arroyo, Puerto Rico native picked up his first RBI of the day in the bottom of the 1^st inning after an RBI double by 3B Ben Gobbel scored SS Caleb Ketchup, who reached on a hit-by-pitch, to give Tri-City a 1-0 lead two batters in. Gobbel advanced to third on a groundout which brought Sanchez to the plate. The switch-hitting outfielder laced a pitch from Everett starter Jimmy Kingsbury (0-1) the opposite way through the left side of the infield, scoring Gobbel for a 2-0 Dust Devils advantage.

Tri-City and the AquaSox then traded single runs in the 3^rd and 4^th innings, with Sanchez pulling a ball through the right side to score Ketchup a second time and make it a 3-1 game. 2B Andy Blake then walked and drew an errant Everett pickoff throw, allowing him to go from first to third. That put Blake in position to break for home and score on a wild pitch later in the inning, restoring the home side to a two-run lead at 4-2.

On the mound Dust Devils starter Joel Hurtado (1-2) rebounded from a tough Tuesday, going five-plus innings and getting his first win at the High-A level. The righty gave up three runs (2 ER) on four hits and struck out two, taking his start into the 6^th inning. There he ran out of gas, giving up three consecutive hits to the AquaSox to load the bases with no one out. Lefty Dylan Phillips came in and preserved the lead, allowing only a sacrifice fly that made it a 4-3 game.

Sanchez then capped his best game for Tri-City in the bottom of the 8^th, coming up with the bases loaded and lining a single to right-center to score both Ketchup and Gobbel and push the lead to 6-3. An RBI single by CF Werner Blakely and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Blake stretched the lead to 8-3.

Everett would attempt one more charge, with a two-run homer by C Andrew Miller drawing the Frogs within three in the top of the 9^th. Cam Minacci shook the longball off, though, inducing a grounder to the mound which he fielded and took to first base himself to end the game.

Ben Gobbel joined Sanchez with a multi-hit game, going 2 for 4 with a walk. Caleb Ketchup also had a big-time performance in the leadoff spot for the Dust Devils, despite not having an official at-bat. The Atlanta native walked three times and laid down a sacrifice bunt alongside his hit-by-pitch, reaching base four times and scoring thrice. Relievers Jared Southard and Brady Choban pitched scoreless innings late to help the cause.

Tri-City will enjoy a day off at home before hosting the Vancouver Canadians for a six-game series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night at Gesa Stadium, where it’ll be Fantasy Baseball Night presented by D-Bat Columbia Basin. The series includes a mid-week matinee at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, 6:30 p.m. starts Thursday-Saturday, and another 1:30 p.m. afternoon contest to close the series.

Broadcast coverage of Tuesday’s series opener will begin with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m, both here and on the MiLB app as well as video coverage on MiLB.tv.

Tickets for the Vancouver 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.