PASCO – SS Capri Ortiz turned a back-and-forth Thursday tilt to the Tri-City Dust Devils (25-23) in the bottom of the 8th inning, with his chopped two-run single bouncing over the left side to the outfield for the final runs in a 5-4 win over the Spokane Indians (20-28) at Gesa Stadium.
RF Randy De Jesus started the inning by drawing a walk, with pinch-runner Gage Harrelson stepping in for him at first base. 1B Ryan Nicholson followed with a single to right-center to put runners at first and second, and Aaron Graeber ran for him at first. Both runners advanced via a sacrifice bunt laid down by CF Anthony Scull, making it second and third for Tri-City with one out and bringing Ortiz to the plate. Spokane reliever Justin Loer (0-2) delivered a pitch and Ortiz pounded it into the dirt in front of the plate, hopping it over the left side of a drawn-in infield to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead.
Dust Devils reliever Dylan Phillips (1-0), prior to the rally, worked out of bases loaded trouble in the top of the 8th to keep his team within a run and completed a 1-2-3 top of the 9th to secure the win. Starter Luke Schafer threw five innings of two-run ball on short notice, leaving the game in position to grab the victory himself.
Down 2-0 early after a two-run shot by DH Jack O’Dowd in the top of the 1st, Tri-City put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the 3rd with some help from a pair of Indians errors. 3B Jake Munroe drew a two-out walk, and C Juan Flores doubled to the wall in right-center to score Munroe and cut the Spokane lead to 2-1. DH Matt Coutney hit a grounder to second that was first bobbled and then thrown high to first. Flores, running hard the whole way, scored from second to tie the game at 2-2 and Coutney made it to second on the error. Nicholson then came up and hit a soft topper to the right side for an infield hit. The throw to get him went wide of the bag at first, allowing Coutney to race in and give the Dust Devils a 3-2 lead.
A two-run 6th gave the Indians the 4-3 lead they held to the 8th inning, but reliever Alex Martinez rallied to post a perfect top of the 7th to hold the line there. In the end, Tri-City did enough to stay in range for a late rally, which they forged to take a two-games-to-one series lead.
THREE-PIECE TEXIDO
Tri-City and Spokane square off in game four of their six-game series at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Gesa Stadium. The Dust Devils will send left-hander Francis Texido (0-2, 4.76 ERA) to the hill, and the Indians will counter with righty Gabriel Hughes on rehab assignment. Hughes, the Colorado Rockies’ 1st round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Gonzaga, pitched twice for the Indians in Pasco in 2023 as part of his first full pro season.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:10 p.m. Fans can also watch the games for free on Bally Sports Live, and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
Following the series the Vancouver Canadians come to town for six games, the second half of a 12-game homestand. For tickets for the Spokane and Vancouver series, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.