Viñeros Draw Largest Crowd of Year, Fall Short to Vancouver
Four home runs flew over the fence Friday night at pitcher-friendly Gesa Stadium, where the Vancouver Canadians (10-11) hit three longballs on the way to a 7-4 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-16) Friday night. 2,384 fans made their way through the Gesa Stadium gates, the largest crowd to
Four home runs flew over the fence Friday night at pitcher-friendly Gesa Stadium, where the Vancouver Canadians (10-11) hit three longballs on the way to a 7-4 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils (9-16) Friday night.
2,384 fans made their way through the Gesa Stadium gates, the largest crowd to see a ballgame in the Tri-Cities so far in 2024, and they were treated to early excitement in the 1st inning when both leadoff hitters went deep to start their teams’ night at the plate.
Vancouver CF Dasan Brown socked a pitch from Tri-City starter Erik Rivera (0-1) in the top of the inning, and Viñeros 2B Caleb Ketchup answered in the bottom of the frame with a shot over the left field wall off Canadians starter Kevin Miranda (2-1). The second home run of the year for both Ketchup and Brown left the game in a 1-1 tie through an inning of play.
The deadlock would not last long, though, as Vancouver scored three runs in the top of the 2nd to take a 4-1 advantage via an RBI single by 2B Estiven Machado and a two-run double by C Jommer Hernandez. The Canadians pushed the lead out further in the 3rd inning on solo homers by DH Jackson Hornung and 1B Brennan Orf to make it 6-1 through three innings.
The Viñeros stayed within range throughout the night. SS Denzer Guzman, returning from time away due to a minor injury, singled and later scored on a double play to bring his team within four at 6-2 in the bottom of the 4th. Tri-City then got to the Vancouver bullpen, scoring twice in the bottom of the 7th on an RBI single by CF Werner Blakely and a run-scoring double from LF Jorge Ruiz, Thursday night’s hero.
The lefty’s two-bagger both got his team within two at 6-4 and put the tying runs in scoring position, but they would stay there and the Viñeros could not mount one more comeback charge. Reliever Justin Kelly got his second save for the Canadians in 2024 by striking out the side in the bottom of the 9th.
1B Matt Coutney had a multi-hit night, going 2-for-4 with a run out of the cleanup spot. Pitchers out of the Tri-City bullpen had another good night, giving up a single run in the 9th but otherwise holding the visitors off the scoreboard for the final six innings of the game.
Vancouver secured a series split with their victory, leaving the Viñeros to try to win the final two games of the six-game set in order to get their share. Game five of the series with the Canadians is set for a 6:30 p.m. start Saturday night at Gesa Stadium, where postgame fireworks will entertain the crowd thanks to the CBC Foundation.
Right-hander Joel Hurtado (1-2, 4.91 ERA) will get the nod for Tr-City, trying to get his second win of 2024. Another righty, Lazaro Estrada (0-1, 1.93 ERA at Single-A Dunedin), is expected to go to the mound for Vancouver.
Broadcast coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m, both here and on the MiLB app as well as video coverage on the Bally Live app (go to MiLB Zone, selecte game) and MiLB.tv.
Tickets for Saturday night's contest and the continuing Viñeros 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.