PASCO – A five-run bottom of the 8th inning, capped by the first career grand slam by 2B Capri Ortiz, breathed late life into the Tri-City Dust Devils (17-21 2H, 52-52) Wednesday night but a five homer day from the Hillsboro Hops (17-21 2H, 49-55) carried them to a 10-5 win at Gesa Stadium.
Ortiz’s blast, off Hillsboro lefty Rio Britton (6-4), served as the last of six hits in a row for Tri-City. CF Hayden Alvarez got things started with a bloop double to left, and 3B Harold Coll singled behind him. Alvarez stopped at third but Coll got caught in a rundown between first and second, giving Alvarez time to score the first run of the night for the Dust Devils. That left the bases empty with two out, but the home nine would load them back up with singles from 1B Ryan Nicholson, SS Kendrey Maduro and LF Kevyn Castillo. Ortiz then came up and smashed a ball over both the new and old walls in left center field, making it a 9-5 game.
For a second straight night it took Tri-City until the 6th inning to get their first hit. RF Jorge Ruiz did the honors by stretching his hit streak to a dozen games with a one-out liner through the left side of the infield. The Dust Devils would get two runners on in both the 6th and 7th innings before breaking through with their five-spot, ultimately outhitting the visitors 10-9 in the game.
Starter Dylan Jordan (0-1) gave up only a sacrifice fly in the first two innings, but the Hops homered twice in both the 3rd and 4th innings to put up a total of seven runs on seven hits. The 20-year-old struck out five and walked only one in his first High-A start, showing promise despite the loss. Luke Schafer followed with three scoreless and hitless innings out of the bullpen to slow the Hillsboro attack.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Ryan Nicholson’s 8th inning single stretched his on-base streak to 17 games in a row, his second-longest as a Dust Devil. Nicholson reached in his first 21 games for Tri-City in the 2025 season on his way to winning Northwest League Player of the Month honors for April of last year.
-Capri Ortiz’s grand slam makes it four hit by the Dust Devils in the 2026 campaign. Three have come against the Hops, with two hit at Gesa Stadium (Randy De Jesus on April 19 the other).
-Tri-City did not lose ground in a compressed Second Half playoff race. The Eugene Emeralds downed the Spokane Indians for a second straight night, beating them 6-1 at Avista Stadium. The Vancouver Canadians rebounded for a 5-3 win over the Everett AquaSox at Everett Memorial Stadium, leaving the Dust Devils at three games back with 28 games to go.
YEF, PLEASE
Tri-City and Hillsboro play game three of their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. Thursday night at Gesa Stadium. Right-hander Yeferson Vargas (3-8, 6.10 ERA) toes the slab for the Dust Devils, facing righty Patrick Forbes (0-0, 2.63 ERA) of the Hops.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin each night with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. Fans can also watch the game for free on Bally Sports Live (Tri-City broadcast), and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
For tickets to the set with the Hops, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.