Dust Devils Spun Out by Indians in Opening Games of Series
Showing off the pitching prowess and offensive output that garnered them the First Half title of the 2024 Northwest League, the Spokane Indians (8-3 2H) took the first two games of a three-game set with the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-10 2H) at Gesa Stadium Monday and Tuesday night by scores
Showing off the pitching prowess and offensive output that garnered them the First Half title of the 2024 Northwest League, the Spokane Indians (8-3 2H) took the first two games of a three-game set with the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-10 2H) at Gesa Stadium Monday and Tuesday night by scores of 6-3 and 6-0, respectively.
Tri-City showed again their resiliency in the opener of the series, coming back from 3-0 down to tie the game in the middle innings. DH Cam Williams took a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 5th, getting his team on the board at 3-1. An inning later the Dust Devils tied the game in the 6th, starting with LF Caleb Ketchup drawing a walk and then taking a trip of theft around the bases which he capped by nabbing home on a double steal. CF Joe Redfield’s RBI single to left off Spokane reliever Welinton Herrera (1-0) evened the score at 3-3.
Spokane hit right back in the top of the 7th, scoring the trifecta of tallies that gave them their winning margin via a sacrifice fly off of Tri-City hurler Jose Fermin (1-2), an RBI single and a double steal of their own. The Dust Devils would get runners in scoring position in both the 7th and 9th innings to give themselves opportunities for a comeback, but they could not muster a final charge. Both starters received no-decisions, with Tri-City’s Jorge Marcheco giving up two earned runs (three total) with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Tuesday night’s game two had a different tenor due to the difficulty caused the Dust Devils’ offense by Indians right-hander Chase Dollander (4-1). Though the home nine had six hits off the Colorado Rockies’ top prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, it could not push a run across. The Evans, Georgia native struck out ten Tri-City hitters, including five in a row at one point, keeping the home nine in check throughout the night.
Starter Walbert Ureña (2-7) gave up three runs on just three hits in his six innings of work, striking out seven and keeping the Dust Devils within range. Once more it was one inning that plagued the young right-hander, with Spokane scoring thrice in the top of the 4th to take a lead they would never give back.
Indians middle infielder Jean Perez has been the offensive story for the visitors, going 5-for-7 in the first two games of the series with a solo homer and a double. Joe Redfield has put together a great series for the home nine, going 5-for-8 with a two-bagger.
The two teams meet up for one of the most anticipated games of the 2024 season at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night at Gesa Stadium, with McEachen Electric presenting the yearly postgame patriotic fireworks extravaganza. As of press time only limited general admission seats remain available for purchase for the game, which sees Tri-City hand the ball to right-hander Chris Clark (1-8, 6.33 ERA) and Spokane give the start to righty Blake Adams (5-2, 2.87 ERA).
Broadcast coverage of Wednesday’s ballgame begins 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.
The teams decamp and head to Avista Stadium in Spokane Valley for three games covering July 4-6, followed by a two-day break and a road series in Hillsboro leading up to the All-Star Break. Tri-City then returns post-break with a three-game set against the Eugene Emeralds starting Friday night, July 19th.
Tickets for the Eugene 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.