SPOKANE VALLEY – Three consecutive walks drawn in the top of the 7th inning by the Tri-City Dust Devils (11-15 2H, 46-46) pushed across both the tying and go-ahead runs Wednesday night, with the visitors evening up the six-game series by hanging on for a 6-5 win over the Spokane Indians (16-10 2H, 45-47) at Avista Stadium.
The inning started with Tri-City trailing 5-3. 3B Harold Coll got things started with a one-out single up the middle and DH Matt Coutney walked to put two on. Spokane reliever Nathan Blasick (10-3) came in at that point, and 1B Ryan Nicholson welcomed him to the game by singling sharply to left and loading the bases. RF Randy De Jesus then hit a soft RBI groundout to the right side that scored Coll, making it a 5-4 game with runners at second and third but with two out. The Dust Devils then watched patiently as Blasick lost control of the zone, with C Alberto Rios walking to reload the bases. CF David Mershon and 2B Johan Macias both followed by drawing four-pitch RBI walks, with Mershon’s tying the game and Macias’s provided what ended up the winning run.
Lefty reliever Dylan Phillips (3-1) threw two scoreless innings for the win, taking over on short notice after starter Yeferson Vargas came out of the game during warmups prior to the bottom of the 5th. Vargas went four innings, giving up five runs (3 ER) on seven hits but making two great defensive plays in the bottom of the 1st inning. The righty got the second out of the frame by catching Nicholson’s flip with his bare hand while stepping on first. He then finished the inning by barehanding a soft grounder in front of him and firing an off-balance strike to Nicholson as an infielder would.
Tri-City led 3-0 early in the game, the first run coming in on an RBI double by Coutney in the 1st inning. Mershon added an RBI single in the 2nd and LF Jorge Ruiz lined a sacrifice fly to left. Despite Spokane scoring a run in the 2nd and four in the 3rd with aid of a pair of Dust Devils errors, the squad again showed its resilience in fighting back for the win. Nicolo Pinazzi closed the game out for his second Tri-City save.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Ryan Nicholson had a 3-for-4 night, his tenth game as a Dust Devil in which he’s had at least three hits (including one four-hit game). The lefty from Louisville has five hits in 13 at-bats since his return from Triple-A Salt Lake, coming back after Bees 1B Niko Kavadas returned to action.
-The Tri-City bullpen has not allowed a run in the last three games, covering 14 innings in its scoreless stretch. Dust Devils relievers have allowed only five hits in those frames, striking out 17 and walking seven.
-In the Northwest League Wednesday night, Vancouver rallied for four runs in the top of the 9th to beat Hillsboro 8-6 at Hops Ballpark for their second straight win to open their series. The Eugene Emeralds blew open a close game in the 9th, scoring five runs on the way to a 10-5 win over the Everett AquaSox at Everett Memorial Stadium.
OLEJ, OLEJ OLEJ OLEJ…OLEJ, OLEJ
Tri-City and Spokane face off in game three of their six-game series at 6:35 p.m. Thursday night at Avista Stadium. Right-hander Peyton Olejnik (4-6, 4.30 ERA), who won NWL Pitcher of the Week honors for his last start against Hillsboro (5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 10 Ks/0 BB), gets the start for the Dust Devils. Right-hander Angel Jimenez (0-1, 11.57 ERA) makes his second start at the High-A level for Spokane.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:15 p.m. Fans can also watch the games for free on Bally Sports Live (Spokane broadcast), and via subscription on MLB.tv and the MiLB app.
After a 12-game road trip that continues to Eugene the Dust Devils return Tuesday, August 4, for a six-game set with the Hillsboro Hops. For tickets to the set with the Hops, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.