PASCO – Pulling away via a six-hit 7th inning burst, the Tri-City Dust Devils (28-24) downed the Vancouver Canadians 8-4 to open their six-game series Tuesday night at Gesa Stadium.
Tri-City reached the stretch clinging to a 4-3 lead, with Vancouver grabbing a run in the top of the 7th to halve the Dust Devils advantage. It seemed initially, as well, that the home nine would quickly see their side of the inning done after the Canadians had gotten the first two men out in a total of four pitches.
As has happened with this 2026 Tri-City squad, though, a two-out rally began. 3B Jake Munroe started it with a line drive double to the gap in right-center, getting himself in scoring position. C Peter Burns, who had stepped into the cleanup spot after Juan Flores exited the game early, then dropped an RBI single in the same gap to plate Munroe and push the lead out to 5-3. DH Matt Coutney followed with a double down the left field line that put both him and Burns in scoring position and brought RF Randy De Jesus to the plate. The big righty smashed a ball off the batter’s eye in straightaway center, a three-run home run that made it an 8-3 game. Vancouver added a run in the 8th on a sacrifice fly but got no closer.
Starter Tyler Bremner made his return to the Dust Devils rotation, going 1.2 innings scorelessly and handing the baton to Luke Schafer (1-0). The righty from Leawood, Kansas got the final out of the 2nd inning and pitched through the 5th inning for the win, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out a pair of Canadians. Though Schafer gave up the first two runs of the game, he posted zeroes on the board in the 4th and 5th innings to keep Tri-City in the lead.
The home nine took the lead for good in the bottom of the 3rd inning, the first blow coming on a two-run homer to left by SS Capri Ortiz off a pitch from Vancouver starter Landen Maroudis (0-4). 2B David Mershon, who had walked in the plate appearance prior, jogged home with Ortiz to tie the game at 2-2. LF Caleb Bartolero then laced a single to center to get aboard and CF Anthony Scull picked him up with an RBI triple to left-center, giving the Dust Devils their first lead at 3-2.
The squad would add to the lead in the 5th inning, beginning with a bunt single by Ortiz. The throw to get him veered away from first, allowing Ortiz to advance to second on a throwing error. Bartolero then singled to right and Ortiz stopped at third, but the ball was bobbled in the outfield for a second error that gave Ortiz time to score to double the advantage to 4-2.
Relievers Alex Martinez and Benny Thompson covered the final four innings for the Dust Devils, each giving up a run but holding the visitors back to finish the win. The team had 12 hits on the night, as Caleb Bartolero (2-for-4, BB, R), Capri Ortiz (2-for-4, 2-R HR, 2 R) and Anthony Scull (2-for-5, RBI 3B, 2B) each put together multi-hit games.
YOU’RE IN CHARGE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Tri-City and Vancouver meet for game two of their six-game series at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Gesa Stadium, where it’s Fan Take Over Night at the ballpark. Fans will get to vote on several things occurring throughout the evening as part of the fun.
The Dust Devils will have left-hander Francis Texido (1-2, 3.12 ERA) toe the slab, with the Canadians giving the ball to right-hander Daniel Guerra (2-3, 3.40 ERA).
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.
For tickets to Wednesday night’s game, the Vancouver series, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.