NWL: Dust Devils lead tight division race

After losing the last four games of their home series with the Eugene Emeralds, the Tri-City Dust Devils watched their once comfortable Northwest League North lead slip away as they began the week in a three-way tie atop the division.

The Dust Devils (16-15) dropped their series-opener against the Everett AquaSox (15-16) on Monday to drop back into a tie for second, but back-to-back wins to take the series put Tri-City back in sole possession of the division lead and in control of its playoff destiny heading into a five-game home series against the Hillsboro Hops, which began Thursday, closing out the first half of the season.

“The last two games, we did the things necessary to force the turning point as opposed to the other team doing it to us,” Tri-City manager Ben Fritz said. “We got back to playing winning baseball, instead of just playing not to lose.”

There are no wild-card berths to the Northwest League playoffs. Instead, the first- and second-half champs in each of the league’s two divisions make up the four-team bracket. The first-half champs of each division get to choose whether they want to play the first game of the first-round series at home, or the second and third games. At 23-10, the Emeralds have already wrapped up the first-half South division title.

The remaining three teams in the NWL North — the AquaSox, Spokane Indians and Vancouver Canadians — all entered their Thursday contests just one game back of the Dust Devils.

Everett AquaSox

Perhaps the biggest factor in the NWL North race comes as some of the worst news for Mariners fans, as Seattle’s top draft pick, Everett outfielder Kyle Lewis, injured his knee in a collision at the plate with Tri-City catcher Chris Mattison on Tuesday, and requires season-ending surgery.

“It sucks,” Fritz said. “Obviously he’s a high-profile guy with where he was picked, but anytime that happens in a game it sucks. It was a freak baseball play, and it absolutely sucked that it happened. When we’re playing guys, we want to play their best.”

Lewis was tearing up Northwest League pitching, slashing .299/.385/.530 (BA/OBP/SLG) and was tied for the league lead in triples (5) and was fifth in doubles (8) through 30 games.

Everett’s other top producer through the early part of the season, Jordan Cowan, was promoted to high-A Bakersfield on July 2, which means if the AquaSox are going to make a run at the first-half division championship, a hitter like rookie Nick Zammarelli (.291/.352/.418) or late-comer Donnie Walton (.389/.450/.556 through nine games) will pick up the offensive slack.

The Dust Devils are 6-3 against the AquaSox, so Tri-City would win on tiebreakers if the two teams end up with the same first-half record.

Vancouver Canadians

The Canadians are the only North division squad this season with a winning record against the Dust Devils (4-3), and as a result are the most imminent threat to Tri-City locking up an early playoff berth.

Vancouver hardly plays the flashiest brand of baseball in the league, boasting a .224 team batting average — a league low — but some unbelievable pitching talent has kept the Canadians relevant. Justin Maese (2.05 ERA), Patrick Murphy (2.40) and Dalton Rodriguez (3.16) are all in the top five in the NWL. Maese has walked just one batter and struck out 20 in his 26 1/3 innings pitched.

Facing the unstoppable force that has been the Eugene Emeralds — who have yet to lose a series this season — in their final five games of the first half, the Canadians will likely need some help if they hope to contend for an early playoff spot.

Spokane Indians

A five-game winning streak at the beginning of July took the Indians from a 5-11 squad looking forward to the second half of the season to a legitimate first-half contender. Spokane lost three out of its last four heading into Thursday’s games, but the Indians’ explosive offense makes them a threat to put together a run for the playoffs.

Xavier Turner has paced the Spokane bats through the early part of the season, hitting .353 with a .429 OBP to go along with two homers and five doubles through 23 games.

The Dust Devils won the three-game series they played against the Indians in the first half, meaning Spokane will have to finish ahead of Tri-City after its five-game series against the Boise Hawks to close out the first half.

Other Tiebreakers

If more than two teams end up tied at the end of the first half and head-to-head records don’t determine a clear winner, the next tiebreaker is win percentage within the division, which the Dust Devils would win with their 11-7 record against the NWL North (.611).

Promotions

With a team-wide ERA of 3.48, pitching has been the strength of the Dust Devils in the first half, especially out of the bullpen. So it’s no surprise the first group of promotions went to three of Tri-City’s top arms.

On Tuesday, David Bednar and Aaron Cressley were promoted to the full-season Class A Ft. Wayne Tin Caps, and Mark Zimmerman got called up to the high-A Lake Elsinore Storm. Bednar (35th round) and Zimmerman (33rd round) are both rookies, but Cressley is in his third professional season, all of which have been in the Padres organization, and is headed for his third stint with the Tin Caps. Cressley began 2016 with the Storm.

“They’re strike throwers, competitors, and they have good stuff,” Fritz said. “There was an opportunity for guys to move, and those were the ones that got their names called. Not only good baseball players, but good guys too.”

Bednar didn’t allow a run in his 10 innings of work for the Dust Devils, which included 15 strikeouts. He also picked up two saves in his eight appearances.

Zimmerman posted a 1.23 ERA over 14 2/3 innings and struck out 19. Cressley served primarily as the Dust Devils closer, picking up saves in all four opportunities he was presented while posting a 1.59 ERA over 11 1/3 innings.

Lauer joins the fold

With three promotions on the Tri-City pitching staff in the last few days, Padres first round draft pick Eric Lauer picked a great time to join the Dust Devils roster, as he is expected to make his first start for the team on Friday.

The Padres’ second selection in the first round, the left-hander from Kent State posted the lowest ERA (0.62 over 104 innings) by a Division I starter since 1979.

Lauer made two starts for the Arizona League Padres and had some troubles, though over a notably small sample size, as he gave up five runs — three earned — over four innings.

Dust Devils top Everett

Taylor Kohlwey hit a grand slam in the sixth inning, and Diomar Lopez provided three sparkling innings of relief to lead the Dust Devils to a 6-5 win at Everett on Wednesday.

Kohlwey’s first home run of the summer came after Tri-City packed the sacks with a pair of one-out singles and a walk. Another walk forced in a run. Following a strikeout and a pitching change, Kohlwey unloaded to right field to bring the Dust Devils all the way back from an early four-run hole.

“For me, and kind of our whole team, it lifted us up,” Kohlwey said Thursday. “It was the deciding factor in that game. We were struggling, and we just needed something to get over the hump, get us some wins.”

Tri-City starter Angel Mejia struggled through four-plus innings, getting tagged for eight hits and five runs and also walking two batters. Will Stillman came on to finish the fifth and have an easy sixth for the win. Lopez took over in the seventh and finished up, recording five strikeouts while giving up just a hit and a walk for his first save.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 8:15 PM with the headline "NWL: Dust Devils lead tight division race."