Monday, Aug. 25, 2008

Dust Devils remain red hot

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

As the fall weather begins to take hold in the Columbia Basin, the Tri-City Dust Devils are playing it cool.

After beating the first-place Spokane Indians 5-2 on Sunday at Gesa Stadium for their 11th win in 13 games, the Dust Devils aren’t just the hottest team in the Northwest League.

They may also be the best.

“It’s a good way to end the year,” said Tri-City manager Fred Ocasio. “We started the year off well. In the middle, every team is going to run into some tough times, but lately we’ve been finding ways to win games.

“Now we’ve got a chance to win 40-plus games.”

The Dust Devils have only hit the 40-win mark twice, in 2002 and 2004, finishing 40-36 both times.

Unfortunately, the winning streak may have come a little too late in the season, as Tri-City (34-32) still trails the East Division-leading Indians by nine games.

The Dust Devils can, however, still help close the gap between Spokane and second-place Boise (38-28), which moved to within five games with 10 to play.

Despite losing 10 of their last 16 games, the Indians’ magic number to clinch the division is six. But if the two teams finish the regular season in a tie, the tie-breaker will go to Boise based on head-to-head play.

Tri-City faced one of the league’s toughest right-handers in Wilfredo Boscan, who leads the league with eight victories. But the Dust Devils handed Boscan his first loss, tapping him for four runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Tri-City starter Juan Nicasio pitched well in his third start after returning from a leg injury that forced him to miss four starts over the last month. The 6fo-ot-3 Dominican Republic native allowed two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

“I felt good. I was just trying to concentrate on using my fastball down in the zone,” Nicasio said. “(Catcher Jordan) Pacheco and I worked well together. We talked about throwing away from the hitters, and he set up away the whole night.”

Carlos Luna (3-2) picked up the win for Tri-City, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings to extend a scoreless innings streak of 14 2/3 innings.

Tyler Trice threw a perfect ninth inning for his first save.

“You have to give credit to the starters. They have to stay focused for a lot longer,” said Luna, who went 13-1 for Oral Roberts in 2008 before the Colorado Rockies drafted him in the 30th round. “Nicasio did a great job taking us deep into the game.”

Pacheco led Tri-City on offense, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run double in the sixth to give the Dust Devils their first lead at 4-2. Pacheco also added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 5-2.

Chad Lembeck belted his third home run of the season, a solo shot to lead off a three-run sixth-inning rally.

Notes: Charlie Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 13 games, tying a season high, and Patrick Rose hit in his sixth straight. ... Saturday’s attendance of 3,312 was the Dust Devils’ third-largest crowd of the year and the sixth time over the 3,000-mark this season.