Dust Devils walk-off Spokane for series sweep
Luis Almanzar went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, and Justin Lopez hit the walk-off grounder that Curtis Terry misplayed at first to lift the Tri-City Dust Devils to an improbable 5-4 win and three-game series sweep against the Spokane Indians on Thursday night at Gesa Stadium.
The Dust Devils (7-1) improved their winning streak to six games and took a two-game lead in the Northwest League North Division with Vancouver (5-3) losing to Everett (3-5), 5-1.
With the score tied at 4-all, Jalen Washington led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk for the Dust Devils, and eventually came around to score on Terry’s error, which would have been the final out of the inning. Washington, a catcher, was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 29th round of this year’s MLB Draft, and was added to the Tri-City roster earlier Thursday.
Well its a walk off here at Gesa Stadium and it was done by Justin Lopez! Tri-City takes the game 5-4! #tcdustdevils pic.twitter.com/UDuK974CTg
— Tri-City Dust Devils (@TC_DustDevils) June 23, 2017
After Spokane (3-5) put three scores on the board early, Tri-City scored all four of its runs unanswered in the final three innings.
Almanzar opened the bottom of the seventh with a double to deep right, then came around to score quickly on a two-bagger to left by Luis Asuncion. Washington plated Asuncion with the third double of the frame to make it a two-run game.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Tre Carter ripped a ball to left for a double that brought home Kelvin Melean and Almanzar to tie the score.
Melean also extended the ninth with a two-out walk that brought Lopez up for the final AB.
Mark Zimmerman (1-0) didn’t allow a base runner while picking up the final four outs for the Dust Devils to record his first win of the season.
Eighteen-year-old lefty Adrian Morejon, one of the top prospects in the Padres organization, failed to impress in his second professional start, his first at Gesa Stadium. He struck out six Indians over five innings, but gave up three runs on eight hits.
Tri-City could get absolutely nothing going against Spokane’s left-handed starter Cole Ragans, the Texas Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2016 draft out of North Florida Christian School. The 19-year-old gave up just one hit and one walk over five shutout innings while striking out nine Dust Devils, eventually leaving the game with a 3-0 lead.
UP NEXT
Tri-City hosts Everett for a three-game weekend set beginning at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
Dust Devils 5, Indians 4
Spokane | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg |
Aparicio cf | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
Taylor cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 |
Inoa ss | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .240 |
Pozo c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .353 |
Terry 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .083 |
Leblanc 3b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .235 |
Enright 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
Smith rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .294 |
Novoa dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .200 |
O’Banion lf | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .143 |
Totals | 36 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
Dust Devils | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg |
Melean 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .310 |
Lopez ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .229 |
Almanzar 3b | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .290 |
Asuncion dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .357 |
Carter cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .323 |
Mattison 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Washington c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
Burgos rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .313 |
Magee lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .261 |
Totals | 34 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
Spokane | 012 | 000 | 100 | – | 4 | 10 | 2 |
Dust Devils | 000 | 000 | 221 | – | 5 | 7 | 1 |
E–Leblanc (1); Almanzar (4). LOB–Spokane 7; Dust Devils 7. 2B–Leblanc 2 (2); Almanzar (3). RBIs–Smith (2); Inoa (5); Pozo 2 (5); Asuncion (3); Washington (1); Carter 2 (5). SB–Leblanc (1) 2B. CS–Aparicio (1) 2B. S–Burgos. SF–Pozo. RISP–Spokane 2-for-13; Dust Devils 3-for-13. Runners left in scoring position–Novoa 3; Leblanc; Carter 2; Magee 2; Mattison. DP–Dust Devils 1.
Spokane | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Ragans | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4.00 |
Sanmartin H,1 | 1 1/3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.84 |
Kuzia | 1 2/3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.50 |
Bruce L,0-1 | 2/3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 |
Dust Devils | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Morejon | 5 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 4.50 |
Munoz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9.00 |
Guerrero | 1 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4.91 |
Zimmerman W,1-0 | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.25 |
GS–Ragans 75; Morejon 51. Pitches-strikes–Ragans 75-49; Sanmartin 21-16; Kuzia 34-22; Bruce 19-10; Morejon 68-53; Munoz 16-10; Guerrero 28-20; Zimmerman 18-13. WP–Ragans; Morejon. Inherited runners-scored–Kuzia 2-0; Zimmerman 1-0.
T–2:55. A–1,628.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @Tweet_By_Dustin
This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 11:08 PM with the headline "Dust Devils walk-off Spokane for series sweep."