VANCOUVER, B.C. – For a second straight night the Tri-City Dust Devils (20-25 2H, 55-56) worked their way into a strong position late in a ballgame at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, but the Vancouver Canadians (25-50 2H, 52-59) piled up late runs in a 14-4 win Thursday night that gave the home team a 3-0 series lead.
Back-to-back doubles by 3B Harold Coll and 1B Ryan Nicholson produced the first Tri-City run, in the top of the 3rd and tying the game 1-1. Down 3-1 going to the 7th inning, the Dust Devils later turned the game around by loading the bases with no one out and using speed to put pressure on the Vancouver defense. RF Jorge Ruiz walked and 2B David Mershon lined a single to center, putting two on. Coll then pushed a bunt to the first base side, beating the throw to first to load them up.
Nicholson came to the plate again, taking on lefty reliever Carson Myers (1-2). The southpaw’s first pitch got through Canadians C Jaxson West, a passed ball that scored Ruiz to make it 3-2 and advanced both Mershon and Coll to third and second, respectively. Nicholson then hit a soft grounder down the third base line and Mershon raced home, with the latter sliding in safely and the throw to get him flying away from home plate. Coll, seeing the miss, raced home to give the Dust Devils a 4-3 lead.
The lead would only hold briefly, though, with Vancouver putting together a two-out rally on right-handed reliever Benny Thompson (3-4). A three-run homer by Canadians 2B Maddox Latta gave Vancouver the lead for good at 6-4 in the bottom of the 7th. Two more would come in in the inning, and six more in the 8th in a game that got out of hand.
Starter Yeferson Vargas gave Tri-City a chance to stick around in the game, going five innings and giving up three runs (only 1 ER) on five hits, both striking out and walking four.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Harold Coll went 2-for-5 and scored twice and had both a flyout and a lineout hit sharply to the outfield. David Mershon (2-for-5, 2B, R) not only had another solid night at the plate but recorded the final out of the bottom of the 8th on the mound in mop-up duty.
-Ryan Nicholson reached base four times in five tries, going 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBI. The lefty from Louisville holds a .500 on-base percentage for the series, providing power and consistency in the middle of the order.
-Thursday in the Northwest League saw the Everett AquaSox defeat the Spokane Indians in an early game at Everett Memorial Stadium, with the Frogs winning 7-1 to take a 3-0 series lead a ways south. The Eugene Emeralds won their first game of the week, beating the Hillsboro Hops 9-1 at Hops Ballpark. Tri-City comes into Friday’s action five games back with 21 games left in the season, but three direct attempts to get closer over the weekend.
WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND
Tri-City and Vancouver meet for game three of their six-game series at 1:05 p.m. Friday afternoon at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium. Right-hander Peyton Olejnik (5-7, 4.66 ERA), coming off a win last week at home, gets the start for the Dust Devils. Left-hander Connor O’Halloran (1-0, 7.36 ERA) will do the same for the Canadians.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 12:45 p.m. Fans can also watch the game for free on Bally Sports Live (Vancouver broadcast), and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
Tri-City comes back after the week abroad to host the Everett AquaSox for a six-game set beginning Tuesday, August 18. For tickets to the Everett series, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.