Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009

Devils use 10-run fifth to beat Bears

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

There wasn't quite a full moon Wednesday night at Gesa Stadium, but there was madness in the air during the Tri-City Dust Devils' 12-6 victory over the Yakima Bears.

It isn't every day you see the Dust Devils explode for 10 runs in an inning or Shane Lowe drive a ball over the left centerfield wall.

There was even a Chris Vasami sighting.

Vasami, a third-year pro out of Elon (N.C.) University, missed the last 10 weeks with a broken left hand but -- in his first at bat since June 22 -- pulled a two-run single to left field in the fifth inning to put Tri-City ahead 4-3.

"Unbelievable," said Vasami, a 6-foot-4 infielder/catcher, who pinch hit for Ben Paulsen with the bases loaded and one out before picking on a 1-1 pitch from Brad Wilson. "To do it at home in front of my host parents is very exciting. It was a humbling feeling."

Vasami's wasn't the only highlight of the Dust Devils' 10-run fifth-inning rally, which erased a 3-0 deficit. Lowe picked on a first-pitch fastball from Bears reliever Pedro Rodriguez and lined it hard over the left-field wall for his first home run of the season.

"I hit it hard, but I saw (Orlando) Sandoval hit one to the wall last night that came up short," said Lowe, an undrafted free agent in 2006 out of New Bloomfield (Missouri) High School. "I just kept running hard."

The victory was the Dust Devils' 45th of the season, which set a Colorado Rockies' short-season record for wins in a season. The previous mark was held by the Portland Rockies, who finished 44-32 in 1997 before winning the Northwest League championship.

With just four days left until Tri-City (45-27) meets Salem-Keizer (46-26) for the NWL title, the Dust Devils don't appear to be losing any momentum in the final week of the regular season. The team won its third straight and 11th over the last 12 games.

"We got some help from (Yakima), but we got some big hits," said Tri-City manager Fred Ocasio after the Bears committed four errors -- three by shortstop Brent Greer -- that led to three unearned runs. "Vasami came up big, and Lowe had a big two-out homer. Everybody on the roster is a big part of preparing for Salem-Keizer."

Joseph Sanders and Jose Gonzalez each drove in two runs for Tri-City.

Dust Devils starter Wes Musick (3-0) got the win after allowing three runs on six hits in five innings. He nearly escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the second, striking out Matt Davidson and Matt Helm before Roldany Aquila drove a 2-0 pitch to the left centerfield wall to clear the bases.

But Musick was clean the rest of the way, allowing just two hits over the next four innings.

Wilson (2-3) took the loss for Yakima after giving up seven runs -- four earned -- on five hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Bears manager Bob Didier added to the game's mayhem with two outs in the sixth inning, getting ejected by home plate umpire Aaron Roberts after a memorable short-fused tirade.