Dust Devils Served Grand Slams by AquaSox

A pair of grand slams slugged by the Everett AquaSox (29-22 2H, 63-54) proved too much for the Tri-City Dust Devils (18-31 2H, 52-63) to overcome Thursday night, with Tri-City getting handed a 12-5 defeat by Everett at Gesa Stadium.

The first grand slam came in the top of the 1^st inning before an out was recorded. An error and two walks loaded the bases, bring 1B Hogan Windish to the plate. Windish sent a fly ball on a pitch from Dust Devils starter Chase Chaney (7-6) high in the air to right-center with the wind at his back. The ball disappeared over the wall for the first salami of the night, giving the AquaSox a 4-0 lead before the home nine came to bat.

Tri-City answered quickly in the bottom of the 1^st, scoring twice to cut the lead in half. Both SS Andy Blake and DH Adrian Placencia drew walks to put two aboard with no one out. CF Alexander Ramirez got the first run of the night home with an RBI groundout, and 1B Cam Williams doubled down the left field line to make it a 4-2 game after just one inning.

Everett went right back to work in the top of the 2^nd, scoring four more runs on a bases-clearing double by DH Harry Ford and another two-bagger right behind him by RF Gabriel Gonzalez. The Dust Devils got a run back in each of their next two at-bats, via an RBI single by Blake in the 2^nd and a bases-loaded walk issued to LF Casey Dana in the 3^rd. It remained an 8-4 game to the 6^th inning, in large part due to a stellar debut by Tri-City lefty reliever Julian Smith. The southpaw from Concord, North Carolina went six up and six down with four strikeouts in the middle innings.

The game ended up a bullpen battle, with Chaney and AquaSox starter Raul Alcantara each going only three innings. Righty Bernie Martinez (3-3) covered the 4^th and 5^th innings for Everett, giving up a hit in both innings but otherwise posting a zero.

A second grand slam opportunity came to Everett in the 6^th, but new Dust Devils reliever Ben Thompson forged a chance to get out of trouble with the bases loaded, two out and AquaSox RF Gabriel Gonzalez at the plate. Thompson had Gonzalez down two strikes in the count, but Gonzalez sent the 0-2 pitch deep over the left field wall near the scoreboard for a second salami that pushed the Everett lead to 12-4 despite the team having only five hits on the night.

Tri-City added a run on an RBI single by C Caleb Pendleton in the bottom of the 8^th to inch a run closer, reaching the final 12-5 margin. Both Andy Blake (2-3, BB, RBI) and Cam Williams (2-4, 2B, RBI) had multi-hit games for the Dust Devils, and 3B Werner Blakely added a single and a walk to extend his on-base streak to 13 games.

The Viñeros de Tri-City return for a Friday night game four of six between Tri-City and Everett, scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. start at Gesa Stadium. The probable starters announced provide a battle of Nicks on the mound: lefty Nick Horvath (0-0, 3.12 ERA) for the Dust Devils and righty Nick Davila (3-5, 4.25 ERA) for the AquaSox. Broadcast coverage begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m., both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

It’s a busy Friday at the ballpark, as it’s both Viñeros de Tri-City Jersey Auction Night and a Family Feast Night ($2 hot dogs, 12 oz. Coca-Cola products, bags of chips, ice cream sandwiches and Laffy Taffy ropes) presented by Roto-Rooter. Fans have the chance to bid on this year’s Viñeros jerseys on the concourse, with proceeds going to support Grace Clinic.

Tickets for both Friday night's game and the weekend’s clashes 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).