Hotter than a Texas grill out here.

I came out about two hours before game time to help our photographer Kai-Huei Yau do a photo shoot for Dust Devils first baseman Jordan Ribera. We set up for about 20 minutes and did some test shots while Ribera took part in the team's kangaroo court (presided by the honorable judge Burba) in the Dave Lemak Clubhouse.

It had to be a little north of 90 degrees, because I was sweating buckets just helping him set up. It didn't help that we were working with white flour, which was getting all over my brown pants. I needed a kitchen apron.

The idea in a nutshell was this: carve out a baseball so you can restuff it with some fluffy filler and some flour so when you hit it, you get an exploding effect.

Once Ribera came out we had a fun time. He had just incurred a nasty groin pull the night before, so we had to be very careful that he wasn't aggravating anything.

All went well, I'm glad to say. Kai is a creative genius, and I think we got some really cool shots. Kai admitted to me that he's never too pleased with his work. I think, like most overachievers, he's just set the bar pretty high for himself.

Anyway, the photo will go with the story coming out in Tuesday's paper, if you want to see how it all turned out.

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Dust Devils taking on Eugene in the last game of their first series against each other this year. Tri-City has already clinched the series, taking three of the first four, and can maintain at least a share of first with a win today.

They're off to a good start, getting an RBI single from Jared Simon with two outs in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.

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RHP Ben Alsup, the Colorado Rockies' 18th-round pick out of LSU, getting the start for the Dust Devils. After walking the leadoff batter in the first, he has retired 11 in a row before a two-out walk in the fourth.

He'll go as far as his 75-pitch limit will take him before giving way to LHP Roberto Padilla, an eighth-round pick out of San Jose State, who will make his professional debut.

For Eugene, it's 6-foot-6 right-hander James Needy, who was a sixth-round pick in the 2009 draft. Needy is followed in the Emeralds' rotation by Tired, Poor and Hungry.

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I'm a little frustrated with myself today. I had fully intended to watch the women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan. Keeping the odd hours that sportswriters do, however, I snoozed right through it. I even set my alarm but woke up to blinking numbers, a sign of a power outage.

I was hoping to give my sister, Erin, a call during the game. She and I have been big soccer fans all our lives, and we had the incredible experience of being in the Rose Bowl in 1999 when the U.S. women won their last World Cup title.

Sounds like I missed another good one, though, with Japan winning in a shootout after a 2-2 regulation.

Sorry about that, Erin. The mind was willing, but the body....

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I do have the Breaking Bad season 4 premier to look forward to tonight.

True there is a lot of garbage on TV, but at the same time I think some of the best writing ever is happening right now between the cable channels and premier channels. Mad Men, Louie, Men of a Certain Age are all among the best shows on air right now (although I saw they cancelled Men of a Certain Age. ... too bad). But I think Breaking Bad is the best of them all.

Found out it's one of Freddie Ocasio's favorite shows, too. I've been working with Kai to tape some of this season's episodes for him so he doens't have to miss any. Freddie told me he's turned some of the team on to the show, too.

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This game cruising along. Only 1:15 in and we're already through six innings. And it's cooled off considerably with a nice breeze blowing in from the west.

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I wanted to get in a pitch for the ALS Association, which is here to promote awareness of ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. They also have the Walk to Defeat ALS coming up in Columbia Park in Kennewick on Saturday, Oct. 1.

If you need further inspiration, here's a link to the Lou Gehrig website, which includes the full text of his famous farewell speech given on July 4, 1939.

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We're into the seventh inning now and Padilla's first inning was beautiful. He threw 11 pitches, struck out two batters and set down all three batters he faced.

Dust Devils threatening to add a few more runs in the bottom half of the seventh. Jordan Ballard just looped an RBI single to left center, and Tri-City still has runners on first and second with nobody out.

Dust Devils lead 2-0 with more updates to come.

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Add two more after Eugene reliever Luis De La Cruz fielded a bunt by David Hernandez and overthrew third base, scoring Taylor Featherstone from second and Ballard from first.

Padilla will likely get to finish this one out if things stay as they are. In that case, Alsup would get his first pro win, and Padilla would get the save for going three innings.

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Alas, Padilla slips a little bit in the ninth, walking two batters and allowing an infield single to load the bases. But Rafael Suarez comes in to shut the door on the Ems, letting just one run score.

Tri-City wins 4-1. The Dust Devils take four of five from the West-leading Emeralds and move into sole possession of first in the East Division.