PASCO – On a Friday night when 3,080 fans came to enjoy both a postgame drone show and a thrilling ballgame, C Juan Flores put together a skyward show of his own via a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning that gave the Tri-City Dust Devils (36-31, 1-0 Second Half) a 5-4 win over the Eugene Emeralds (42-25, 0-1 Second Half) at Gesa Stadium.
The Tri-City catcher sent the first pitch he saw from Eugene reliever Gerelmi Maldonado (1-1) deep and out to left field for the winner, with his second home run of the game and 11th of the season bringing the fans to their feet in celebration. His first home run of the evening came in his previous at-bat in the 7th, over the wall in left-center to tie the game at 4-4.
Lefty reliever Dylan Phillips (2-0), called upon to get the final out of the top of the 9th in a left-on-left matchup with Northwest League doubles leader Trevor Cohen, got the win.
The Dust Devils trailed 4-0 going to the bottom of the 6th inning, with the Emeralds scoring four times in the top of the 3rd to stake an early lead. The home team scored three times in the 6th, with three successive singles to start the inning getting the rally going. Flores again keyed the attack, with his single first to lead things off. 1B Matt Coutney then pulled a grounder through the right side for the second single, getting Flores to third. DH Aaron Graeber followed Coutney’s path through the right side for the third hit, an RBI single for him to get Tri-City on the board at 4-1.
LF Jorge Ruiz then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Coutney to third and Graeber to second. A wild pitch allowed Coutney to score and make it 4-2, with Graeber moving to third. SS Capri Ortiz’s RBI single two batters later got the Dust Devils within a run at 4-3, and Flores’s two homers covered the rest.
Yeferson Vargas, the Tri-City starter, retired the first six he faced before running into the 3rd inning troubles. He made it through 3.2 innings, striking out four. Reliever Kyle Roche then delivered for the Dust Devils by throwing 3.1 scoreless innings and getting the game through the 7th. Benny Thompson got five outs for the Dust Devils, four by strikeout, before Phillips got his lone out and the win.
Flores went 3-for-5 on the night, with his hits coming in his last three at-bats and him scoring all three times he reached base. 3B Jake Munroe went 2-for-4, with the two covering five of the team’s eight hits.
25 SEASONS OF BASEBALL…AND HATS
Tri-City and Eugene collide in game five of the week’s six-game series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night at Gesa Stadium. The first 500 fans through the gates will receive a 25th Season Commemorative Hat, thanks to Community Real Estate Group.
The Dust Devils give the start to right-hander Peyton Olejnik (3-5, 5.12 ERA). The Emeralds counter with left-hander and Sumner, Washington native Jacob Bresnahan (1-2, 4.58 ERA).
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. Fans can also watch the games for free on Bally Sports Live, and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
A Father’s Day celebration with postgame fireworks on Sunday, June 21 will close the series before Tri-City begins a two-week road trip. For tickets to the weekend’s games with Eugene, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.