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.
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It's been a trying summer for Tri-City outfielder Jaron Shepherd.
The 2011 draft pick came into Saturday's game against Yakima hitting just .250 with two extra base hits and two RBIs.
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The Northwest League All-Star team is due out this week, and the playoff-bound Tri-City Dust Devils should earn a few spots on the team. One thing the NWL doesn’t have is a defensive award. If it did, the Dust Devils certainly would grab another healthy handful of honors.
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Minor league baseball sometimes can be an exercise in chaos, and the teams that handle it best usually come out on top.
The Tri-City Dust Devils turned potential bedlam into a big break during a 3-1 win over the Yakima Bears on Thursday at Gesa Stadium, keeping the Dust Devils tied for the best overall record in the Northwest League this season.
Tri-City, which won the East Division first-half championship, kept pace with Eugene, the first-half champ in the West, for the league's best record at 36-25. The Dust Devils also increased their second-half East lead to three games over Boise.
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Here's a quick Dust Devils alumni update: Russell Wilson, who played second base here in 2010 before heading back to the North Carolina State football team, where he started at quarterback.
Well, this year, he's quarterbacking Wisconsin after he was essentially shown the door at NC State when he chose to keep playing baseball in the Colorado Rockies' system. But it's been a great pickup for the Badgers, who beat UNLV tonight 51-17 in the season opener for both teams.
Wilson played most of the game and showed he is a great fit for the offense. As expected, he handed the ball off a lot, but he was also efficient when it came to making passes. Wilson completed 10-of-13 passes for 255 yards and two TDs. He also broke off an impressive 46-yard touchdown run near the end of the first half, getting a couple of great blocks along the way.
LIVE BLOG: Dust Devils vs. Yakima Bears, Game 1
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Good to be back at Gesa Stadium after a long, eight-day road trip!! Hard to believe there's only
As I arrived in the press box, I was pleased to see a ceviche tostada waiting for me in my usual spot, courtesy of Dust Devils play-by-play man Jason Schwartz. God bless America, I thought. And thank God for Hacienda del Sol out in the stadium concourse for offering a $1 special on ceviche today. I liked the first one so much I rushed down to get two more. Screw hamburgers!
If I had to live on one food for the rest of my life, I just might have to go with sushi. But I've decided a good whitefish ceviche would be a close second. (as I write this, Tony Wise — the Dust Devils official scorer — is peering over my shoulder, wondering what I'm writing about. I did offer him one of my ceviche tostadas earlier, but he turned it down.)
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