PASCO – With the roles changed and the tables turned, the Tri-City Dust Devils (27-24) held serve Sunday afternoon at Gesa Stadium by defeating the Spokane Indians (21-30) in a tight 4-2 contest that gave the home team a series win by the same margin.
Spokane got on the board first, two batters into the game, via an RBI double off the bat of 2B Roynier Hernandez that scored LF Tommy Hopfe all the way from first after his leadoff walk. The Indians would load the bases in the top of the 3rd as well, but starter Peyton Olejnik found a way out of trouble by inducing a grounder to 3B Jake Munroe that he took to the third base bag for an inning-ending forceout that left the bases loaded.
Tri-City evened up the game in the bottom of the 3rd inning, beginning with a single by SS Johan Macias to lead off the frame. Macias stole second to get into scoring position, and 2B Adrian Placencia walked to put two on with one out. 1B Caleb Bartolero then came up and lined a single to center, scoring Macias to tie the game at 1-1.
An inning later the Dust Devils struck for three runs to take a lead that held the rest of the day. LF Anthony Scull led off the inning with a double down the right field line, and advanced to third on a single by C Peter Burns. CF Gage Harrelson then hit a grounder back to Spokane starter Jordy Vargas (1-4), who bluffed a throw to second and then came home. That triggered a rundown, with Scull getting tagged out but staying at it long enough to let Burns get to third and Harrelson to second with one out. That proved important as Vargas soon uncorked a wild pitch, giving Burns time to score to give Tri-City a 2-1 lead and Harrelson the chance to get to third.
Macias then delivered again with a hard grounder through the drawn-in infield, an RBI single that scored Harrelson for a 3-1 Tri-City lead. Placencia then capped the bottom of the 3rd with an RBI double that one-hopped the wall in right, plating Macias to make it 4-1 to the Dust Devils.
Olejnik ran into trouble trying to get through five innings to be the pitcher of record, loading the bases with one out in the top of the 5th. The righty starter ended up going 4.1 innings and giving up two runs on three hits in a no-decision, striking out six. Reliever Max Gieg (1-0) came in and, though hitting a batter with a pitch to bring in a run, got two strikeouts to keep Tri-City in front. A bullpen combination of Nick Jones (1 IP), Dylan Phillips (2 IP) and closer Sam Tookoian (1 IP, 6th save) covered the rest to clinch the series win.
The Dust Devils had nine hits on the day. Caleb Bartolero (2-for-3, RBI 1B, BB), Johan Macias (2-for-3, RBI 1B, 2 R) and Anthony Scull (2-for-4, 2 2B) each had multi-hit days to help the cause.
THERE WILL BE CANADIANS
Tri-City welcomes the Vancouver Canadians back to town for the second week of the Dust Devils’ only 12-game homestand of the season, with the teams’ six-game series beginning Tuesday, June 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Gesa Stadium. Pitching matchups have yet to be announced for the set, which will have 6:30 p.m. starts through Saturday and end with a 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon finale.
Free broadcast coverage on the MiLB app and dustdevilsbaseball.com will begin with the Dust Devils Pregame Show 20 minutes before first pitch. 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 the Vancouver series, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.