Crazy Eighth Dooms Dust Devils
Six outs away from a third straight win the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-17 2H) had an 8th inning go sideways on them, with errors and walks assisting the Everett AquaSox (11-15 2H) to six runs on the way to a 9-4 win at Gesa Stadium that evened the teams’ six-game
Six outs away from a third straight win the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-17 2H) had an 8th inning go sideways on them, with errors and walks assisting the Everett AquaSox (11-15 2H) to six runs on the way to a 9-4 win at Gesa Stadium that evened the teams’ six-game series at a game apiece.
Tri-City led 4-3 coming into the frame, having retaken the lead on a two-out RBI single to right-center by RF Werner Blakely in the bottom of the 7th. 2B Caleb Ketchup, who was hit by a pitch and stole his league-leading 36th base of the season to get into position, scored from second to get his team back in front.
Dust Devils reliever Jake Smith (1-1) came in to hold the lead but struggled with his control, beginning the inning by walking SS Josh Hood. Smith rallied to strike out LF Jared Sundstrom for the first out of the frame. Tri-City catcher Juan Flores, looking to pick Hood off, fired toward first after catching strike three but his throw sailed off-target and down the right field line. Hood advanced from first to third on the throwing error, which turned out a sign of things to come.
The home nine elected to intentionally walk Everett slugger and DH Lazaro Montes, putting the double play back in order but also putting the potential go-ahead run on base. The decision backfired when a wild pitch gave Hood time to slide in with the tying run to make it a 4-4 game. A motley crew of three more errors, two more walks, a sacrifice fly and just one hit, an RBI single by AquaSox 1B Hunter Fitz-Gerald, followed to leave the Dust Devils dazed, confused and down five runs and for the count.
Everett reliever Joseph Hernandez (2-0) got the win by pitching the 7th inning with a pair of strikeouts, part of AquaSox hurlers racking up 20 punchouts on the night. Half came from starter Ty Cummings’ career-high 10 punchouts in his four innings of work. Dust Devils pitchers did solid work in their own right, though, striking out 17 batters. Reliever Jose Fermin (2.2 IP, 5 Ks) led the charge from the pen, aided by compatriots Ryan Langford (1.2 IP, 4 Ks) and Roman Phansalkar (1.2 IP, 3 Ks).
Offensively the Dust Devils had seven hits in the ballgame, including Flores going 2-for-5 with two doubles and Blakely 2-for-3 with his RBI as well as a walk and a run. 3B Chad Stevens’ RBI infield hit in the 3rd extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Game three of the series between Tri-City and Everett is marked for a 7:05 p.m. start on a festive Thursday night at Gesa Stadium, where it will be Christmas in July presented by Heritage University. Santa and Mrs. Claus will make an appearance at the game, with fans encouraged to wear Christmas attire as comfort and temperatures allow.
The Dust Devils will look to right-hander Chris Clark (2-9, 5.63 ERA) for the start, countered by AquaSox right-hander Ryan Hawks (5-6, 4.94 ERA). 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.