HILLSBORO – The tried-and-true formula of early run support and a strong performance from the night’s starter came through for the Tri-City Dust Devils (26-33 2H, 61-64) Saturday night, with a run per inning pace and Mason McGwire’s five strong innings leading the club to a 7-3 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (28-31 2H, 60-65) at Hops Ballpark.
McGwire (1-2) threw four scoreless innings before allowing a single run in the 5th, giving up four hits and walking two while striking out six in his best performance for Tri-City. The righty had sharp command of his fastball, racking up three strikeouts looking on it in the first three innings.
Patience aided the Dust Devils in the top of the 1st inning, with the visitors drawing four walks off Hillsboro starter Rio Britton (7-5) both to push the first run across and knock Britton out of the game after just two-thirds of an inning. 1B Slate Alford drew the bases loaded walk that scored CF Hayden Alvarez for the opening run of the night.
A three-run 3rd inning proved the major separator, starting with what should have been a home run by SS Kendrey Maduro. Replays showed the ball hit the rail above the wall in left center and bounced back but, without replay review at the High-A level, Maduro remained at second after the umpires conferred. A passed ball allowed Maduro to move to third, from which he scored on 3B Harold Coll’s RBI single to make it 2-0. Back-to-back RBI hits from 2B Adrian Placencia (double) and RF Jorge Ruiz (single) pushed the lead to 4-0.
Ruiz delivered again in the 5th, dropping another RBI single in left to score DH Ryland Zaborowski and stretch the advantage to 5-0. Hillsboro’s 5th inning run and an 8th inning sac fly made it 5-2 going to the 9th, where Tri-City added two more runs. Coll singled and Alford doubled to make it second and third with one out. Placencia sent an RBI single to right to score Coll, and Alford came in on an RBI infield hit by C Alberto Rios to re-extend the lead to five at 7-2. The Hops scored in the bottom of the 9th, but the Dust Devils finished the job.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Harold Coll reached base in all five plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored. The Bostonian has hit .421 (8-for-19) in the series with a home run and three RBI and holds a .379 on-base percentage at the High-A level.
-Zach Redner threw two perfect innings of relief, just as he did on Wednesday night. The Seffner, Florida native has struck out seven of the minimum 12 batters he has faced this week.
-The faint playoff hopes of the Dust Devils remained in place for one more day after both Spokane beat Vancouver 6-3 at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium and Eugene outlasted Everett 12-9 at Everett Memorial Stadium. Tri-City needs the same teams to win their games today, including their own, to stay alive to Tuesday.
LAST (SCHEDULED) ONE ON THE ROAD
Tri-City and Hillsboro clash in the finale of their six-game series, and also their season series, at 1:05 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Hops Ballpark. Right-hander Chase Shores (3-2, 4.66 ERA) gets handed the ball for the Dust Devils, with righty Jacob Steinmetz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) starting for the Hops.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com begins Sunday with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 12:45 p.m. Fans can also watch the game for free on Bally Sports Live (Hillsboro broadcast), and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
Tri-City returns after the game to host the Vancouver Canadians for the final home series of the 2026 regular season September 1-6. For tickets to the Vancouver series, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.