Double Plays and Triples Take Tri-City Past Spokane

Two unassisted double plays and a pair of triples gave the Tri-City Dust Devils (7-9 2H) just enough to return from the All-Star break Friday night with a 4-3 win over the Spokane Indians (8-8 2H) in front of 2,930 at Gesa Stadium.

The triples proved key in scoring the runs necessary for victory. The first, coming in the bottom of the 4^th inning on a shot to the left-center gap by RF Alexander Ramirez, scored SS Arol Vera to give Tri-City a 2-0 lead. Ramirez had earlier scored the opening run of the game in the 2^nd inning, reaching base on a dropped third strike which included a two-base throwing error. Two flyouts later, Ramirez came home on a sacrifice fly by DH Gustavo Campero.

The second triple came off the bat of C Myles Emmerson leading off the bottom of the 7^th inning. The Spring Valley, California native lined a hard grounder the opposite way on a pitch by Spokane reliever Anderson Bido (1-2), slashing it inside the first base bag and skipping it all the way to the wall for his first professional three-bagger. The next batter, CF D’Shawn Knowles, followed the same path but from the left side, pulling an RBI to right field that scored Emmerson for the 4-3 lead that ended up the final margin.

The unassisted double plays both came in big moments of the ballgame. The first was a rare one, coming with the bases loaded and one out for the Indians in the top of the 5^th. Starter Cole Percival, protecting at the time a 2-0 lead, caught a low spinning pop-up off the bat of Spokane SS Ryan Ritter to the left of the mound. Percival then saw that Indians 3B Sterlin Thompson, who had loaded the bases with a single, was off the bag. The righty sprinted for the base, beating Thompson for a 1-unassisted double play that completed five scoreless innings for Percival.

Though he walked five, the Riverside, California native struck out seven and held Spokane off the board, leaving in line for his first win for Tri-City. 1B Matt Coutney added a two-out RBI single to left in the bottom of the 5^th, scoring Emmerson, who had singled up the middle to lead off the inning, and pushing the Dust Devils lead to 3-0.

Spokane would fight back, though, making sure that former Dust Devil Connor Van Scoyoc would not receive a loss in his return to the Gesa Stadium mound. The Indians got on the board in the 6^th inning via an RBI single by C Bryant Quijada, and then got a big two-out, two-run single from 2B Nic Kent off Tri-City reliever Hayden Seig (2-0) in the 7^th to tie the game at 3-3 and hand Percival a no-decision. Van Scoyoc, who also received a no-decision, gave his team a six-inning quality start, giving up two earned runs and striking out five.

After the Knowles double gave the Dust Devils the lead back, reliever Jared Southard backed it up with a 1-2-3 top of the 8^th inning. Erik Martinez then came in to close the game out in the 9^th. The righty struggled early, walking the first two men he faced. Ritter returned to the plate, attempting a sacrifice bunt attempt to move the runners up. Martinez, though, got Ritter to bunt the ball firmly to him in front of the mound, where he grabbed it and threw to third to get the lead runner.

Spokane still threatened, though, with runners at first and second with one out and powerful 1B Zach Kokoska at the plate. The lefty lined a ball to the right side where his counterpart, Coutney, was waiting. The Tri-City 1B caught the ball and attempted to then tag Ritter for the final out. Ritter dodged the tag but, in so doing, ended up further from the bag than Coutney, who then went to step on first base for a 3-unassisted double play that ended the ballgame and gave Martinez his fourth save in as many tries.

At the plate both Myles Emmerson (2-3, 3B, 2 R) and Alexander Ramirez (2-4, RBI 3B, R) had multi-hit games. Also, LF Joe Stewart singled in the bottom of the 1^st and swiped his Northwest League-leading 35^th base of the season.

Game two of the three-game series between the Inland Northwest rivals is set for a 7:05 p.m. first pitch Saturday night at Gesa Stadium. Right-hander Caden Dana (2-3, 4.37 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Dust Devils, with lefty Carson Palmquist (5-1, 3.61 ERA) countering for the Indians. Postgame fireworks, presented by Desert Food Mart, will follow the contest.

Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

Tickets for Saturday night's game 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).