Pasco, WA (July 9, 2026) - After enduring a 10-game losing streak, the Tri-City Dust Devils have suddenly found their offense. One night after erupting for 11 runs, Tri-City launched a pair of two-run home runs and took advantage of timely hitting Thursday night to defeat the Hillsboro Hops 8-4 at Gesa Stadium. The victory gave the Dust Devils back-to-back wins for the first time since late June and a 2-1 lead in the six-game series.
While Tri-City made the most of its scoring opportunities, Hillsboro was left wondering what could have been. The Hops stranded 11 runners and finished just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, repeatedly threatening but failing to deliver the big hit.
The Dust Devils had built their early lead with a pair of productive innings. In the first, Capri Ortiz doubled and later scored on Coutney's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. An inning later, Aaron Graeber crushed a two-run homer to right-center field after Adrian Placencia drew a walk, extending the advantage to 3-0.
Hillsboro actually outhit Tri-City through the first four innings before finally breaking through in the fourth. Trailing 3-0, Jakey Josepha and Avery Owusu-Asiedu opened the inning with consecutive singles before Wallace Clark loaded the bases with another base hit. Brady Counsell lined a two-run double into left field to cut the deficit to one, just missing a grand slam by inches and after Diosfran Cabeza lifted a sacrifice fly to center, the Hops had erased the early hole and tied the game at 3-3.
The momentum didn't last long. Tri-City answered immediately in the bottom of the fifth. Gage Harrelson singled to begin the inning and eventually scored on Jorge Ruiz's RBI single. Matt Coutney followed with an RBI single before Randy De Jesus brought home another run on a fielder's choice, chasing Hillsboro starter John West and giving the Dust Devils a 6-3 advantage. West (3-7) allowed six earned runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings while striking out three.
Hillsboro cut the deficit to 6-4 in the sixth when Counsell doubled for the second time in the game and later scored on JD Dix's sacrifice fly. Counsell finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI and a walk, while Dix continued his hot stretch by going 3-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases.
Tri-City extended the lead in the sixth as Peter Burns singled with one out before Ruiz drove a 2-1 pitch from Tayler Montiel over the wall in right-center for his third home run of the season, pushing the lead to 8-4. Ruiz finished 3-for-5 with the home run, three RBI and two runs scored to lead Tri-City's 10-hit attack.
The Hops had one final opportunity in the eighth, loading the bases with one out on a Counsell walk, a Dix single and a José Mejía free pass. However, Wallace Clark grounded into a force play at home before Trent Youngblood flew out to end the threat to leave the bases loaded.
Tri-City's bullpen combined to allow just one run over the final 5.2 innings. Keythel Key (4-1) earned the victory with 1.2 scoreless innings, while Sam Tookoian struck out two in a perfect ninth inning to close out the win.
Joangel Gonzalez provided a bright spot for Hillsboro, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in relief.
The Hops dropped to 1-2 in the series despite collecting nine hits, while Tri-City continued its offensive resurgence after snapping its 10-game skid Wednesday. Game four of the six-game series is scheduled for Friday night at Gesa Stadium.