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Charlie Blackmon's first and likely his only season with the Tri-City Dust Devils is coming to an end, but his legacy with the team became official during the Dust Devils' 7-0 win Sunday over the Yakima Bears at Gesa Stadium.
The 6-foot-3 center fielder out of Georgia Tech broke the Colorado Rockies' short-season record for hits in a single season, rapping his 93rd and 94th of the year to break Juan Pierre's record of 93 set with the Portland Rockies in 1998.
Blackmon, who was named to the Northwest League All-Star team on Thursday, also extended his hitting streak to 20 games.
"I only knew (about the record) because somebody told me," said Blackmon, the Rockies' second-round pick in the June draft. "It feels great. It's nice to do well. We've worked hard all season, and the coaching staff has helped us all. It's awesome anytime you can get a win in front of the home crowd."
Tri-City starter Sheng-An Kuo, however, made his own mark in the victory with arguably the best start by a Dust Devils pitcher this season. Kuo (1-2), who made his third start with Tri-City after beginning the year in Asheville, allowed just two hits in 7 1/3 shutout innings while striking out nine Yakima batters.
"This was very important for me. This was my last game, and I wanted a good ending," said Kuo, who was 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA in two previous starts. "In my last game (a 7-0 loss to Spokane) my control was no good, but today I was throwing everything down in the zone."
Kuo spent the entire 2007 season in Tri-City, going 5-4 with a 4.69 ERA for the East Division champions.
The Tri-City offense gave itself several opportunities to pile in on the Bears early, loading the bases in the second, third and fifth innings. Though the Dust Devils left many of those runners on base -- 10 stranded in all -- they gave themselves all the runs they needed in the second.
Tri-City had its most prolific inning this season, sending 12 men to plate in the frame and scoring seven runs for a 7-0 lead. The Dust Devils had 11 hits in the game.
"We were just being aggressive," said second baseman Derek Kinzler, who went 3-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. "We know we're not playing for much, but we had a big inning that helped Kuo."
Johnny Bowden led off the inning with a double to dead center field off Yakima starter Ian Harrington, who loaded the bases before getting Chad Lembeck to ground into a force out at home. But the hit parade continued for Tri-City as James Sims laced an RBI single to center, and Kinzler arced a high fly into the left-field corner for a two-run double to make it 3-0.
"I knew I hit it pretty good. I was hoping it would go out, but then I saw it drop," Kinzler said.
Kinzler, a third-year switch-hitting infielder who has spent much of the last two seasons with the Dust Devils with limited opportunities, showed some much-welcomed emotion on a team that had lost its previous six games, enthusiastically pumping his fist after pulling into second.
"I just try to make the most of my opportunities," he said. "I got harrassed a little bit after the fist pump, but everybody wants to finish strong."
Blackmon then stepped up with runners on second and third and looped a soft liner to center for a two-run single to make it 5-0. But Blackmon didn't stop there, giving Tri-City fans a chance to watch Pierre's 10-year record fall when he lined an 0-1 single between first and second in the fifth inning.
Harrington (6-6) took the loss for the Bears after giving up all seven runs -- six earned -- on six hits in 1 1/3 innings.
NOTES: Salem-Keizer maintained a two-game lead in the West Division with three games remaining in the regular season. The two-time defending NWL champion Volcanoes are seeking their fifth division title since 2001. The club -- which began in Bellingham in 1973 -- has won four of the five championship series it has played since moving to Salem-Keizer in 1997.
