PASCO – For a third straight night the Tri-City Dust Devils (17-22 2H, 52-53) found themselves put on the back foot by the Hillsboro Hops (18-21 2H, 50-55), who raced away with a 9-1 win Thursday night at Gesa Stadium for the visitors’ seventh straight win.
The only Tri-City run of the night came in the bottom of the 1st inning when 3B Harold Coll hooked a pitch from Hillsboro starter Patrick Forbes over the left field wall for a solo shot that tied the game at 1-1. The Boston native and Houston resident upped his total to nine High-A homers on the year with the longball.
Dust Devils starter Yeferson Vargas (3-9) gave up only two earned runs (four in total) over three innings in which he racked up 78 pitches. The righty struck out five but walked four on a hot night in the Mid-Columbia, struggling with his control and unable to find a quick inning. Lefty Luke Cooper gave the team his longest performance of the season, going 3.1 innings and giving up one run on three hits while striking out five and walking three. As well, 2B David Mershon gave the crowd something about which to cheer by pitching a scoreless 9th inning for the home nine in his first pro trip to the mound.
RF Jorge Ruiz doubled in the bottom of the 8th inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games in a row, matching a 13-game streak from earlier in the 2026 season. The lefty outfielder has hit .281 (16-for-57) during the streak, with six going for extra bases (3 2B, 3 3B).
Though lefty Hops reliever Joe Ariola (1-0) got the win for his inning following Forbes, who went two innings as he builds back up following an injury, righty Wellington Aracena did the bulk of the work on the hill for the visitors, throwing six scoreless innings and allowing only one runner to reach scoring position. The one-time starter allowed only two hits and walked none, striking out five while shutting down the Tri-City lineup.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Two pitchers made their Dust Devils debut tonight. Righty Greyson Chappel, the 18th round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in this year’s draft, made his professional debut in the 4th inning by striking out the first man he faced and retiring the first two batters he saw before giving up two runs (1 ER) and a pair of hits. Fulton Lockhart, who had a great season for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga before coming to Tri-City, pitched the 8th inning and also gave up two runs (1 ER), striking out the first man he faced.
-DH Hayden Alvarez walked in the 3rd inning to reach base. The 19-year-old outfielder and #3 prospect in the Los Angeles Angels organization, according to MLB Pipeline, has reached base in all three games he’s played in a Dust Devils uniform.
-The Northwest League Thursday night saw a wild game at Avista Stadium, where the Eugene Emeralds beat the Spokane Indians 15-10 in ten innings. The Everett AquaSox slipped past the Vancouver Canadians 4-3 at Everett Memorial Stadium, both to take a 2-1 series lead and leap back into first place in the Second Half playoff berth race. Tri-City’s loss moved them four games back of Everett with 27 games left.
ANOTHER GREAT DUST DEVIL HONORED
Tri-City and Hillsboro gather for game four of their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. Friday night at Gesa Stadium, where the team honors one of its all-time greats via Charlie Blackmon Bobblehead Night presented by Gesa Credit Union. The first 500 fans through the gates will receive a bobblehead figure of Blackmon, who went on to a 14-year MLB career with four All-Star Game appearances.
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.