Asuncion’s homer fuels Dust Devils’ comeback win in season opener
Luis Asuncion sparked a six-run eighth inning with a solo homer to help the Tri-City Dust Devils rally for a 10-4 comeback win over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the season-opener for the Northwest League foes.
Asuncion — who went 3-for-5 and also doubled and stole a stolen base — hit just one home run in his 199 at-bats with the Dust Devils last season.
Josh Magee drove in four of the Dust Devils’ runs with a double and a triple. The San Diego Padres’ fifth-round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft had just three extra-base hits and 10 RBIs in 166 at-bats for the Dust Devils last season.
After Ryan Kirby hit an RBI double off Tri-City starter Emmanuel Ramirez, then scored on a wild pitch to put the Volcanoes up 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the Dust Devils answered with their first run in the seventh on a single by Justin Lopez that drove in Boomer White.
Asuncion’s one-out dinger pulled the Dust Devils within a run in the eighth, then White tied it with a double to right that plated Tre Carter. Magee added insurance with a two-run double, and Lopez and Kelvin Melean picked up RBIs as well to give Tri-City a 7-3 advantage that would never be relinquished.
Austin Smith (1-0), a second-round selection in the 2015 draft, gave up two hits over 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to get the win. Ramirez, getting the Opening Day start for the Dust Devils for the second straight season, gave up three runs on six hits and struck out five over 5 2/3 innings.
MOREJON TO MAKE FIRST START
Eighteen-year-old lefty Adrian Morejon — the No. 91 prospect in all of baseball who the Padres signed for $11 million last year — is slated to start for the Dust Devils tomorrow in his professional debut.
Salem-Keizer will give the rock to Jose Marte, 20, a hard-throwing right-hander who limited opponents to a .182 batting average and posted a 1.89 ERA in five starts in the Dominican Summer League last season.
First pitch for Game 2 of the season-opening, five-game series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Friday.
Here are the projected starting matchups for the rest of the series, with the Dust Devils’ starters listed first:
Saturday (6:35 p.m.): RHP Will Stillman vs. LHP Sidney Duprey
Sunday (5:05 p.m.): RHP Henry Henry vs. LHP Alex Bostic
Monday (5:05 p.m.): LHP Osvaldo Hernandez vs. RHP Alejandro De La Rosa
Dust Devils 10, Volcanoes 4
Dust Devils | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg |
Lopez 2b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .400 |
Melean 3b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
Almanzar ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
Asuncion rf | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .600 |
Carter cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .250 |
Bean c | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
White dh | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
Aragon 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
Magee lf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
Totals | 43 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
Salem-Keizer | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg |
Ziegler cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
K.Rivera 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 |
Manwaring c | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
Kirby 1b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
R.Medrano lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
M.Geraldo ss | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
J.Rodriguez rf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
G.Cabrera dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Murray 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
Totals | 33 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Dust Devils | 000 | 000 | 163 | – | 10 | 15 | 0 |
Salem-Keizer | 010 | 002 | 010 | – | 4 | 10 | 3 |
E–Murray 3 (3). LOB–Dust Devils 9; Salem-Keizer 7. 2B–White (1); R.Medrano (1). 3B–Magee (1); K.Rivera (1). HR–Asuncion (1) off Pino. RBIs–Lopez 2 (2); Asuncion (1); White (1); Magee 4 (4); Melean (1); Bean (1); J.Rodriguez (1); Kirby (1); M.Geraldo (1). SB–Asuncion (1) 2B; M.Geraldo 2 (2) 2B. CS–Murray (1) 2B. S–M.Geraldo; Ziegler. RISP–Dust Devils 6-for-18; Salem-Keizer 2-for-11. Runners left in scoring position–Asuncion; Almanzar; White; Bean; Melean; Lopez; Kirby; Murray; J.Rodriguez; G.Cabrera 2; Manwaring.
Dust Devils | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
E.Ramirez | 5 2/3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4.76 |
Smith W,1-0 | 1 1/3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Zimmerman | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 |
Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Salem-Keizer | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Stet.Woods | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.00 |
Webb H,1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 |
Pino L,0-1 | 1/3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 162.00 |
Timmins | 1 2/3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 16.20 |
GS–E.Ramirez 56; Stet.Woods 73. HBP–Lopez (Stet.Woods); Manwaring (E.Ramirez). WP–E.Ramirez; Webb; Timmins. IBB–Aragon (Pino). Inherited runners-scored–Smith 1-0; Timmins 2-2.
T–2:52 (:25 delay). A–1,542.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @Tweet_By_Dustin
This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Asuncion’s homer fuels Dust Devils’ comeback win in season opener."