Viñeros Victorious One More Time in 2022
September 9, 2022 – Northwest League (NWL) – Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Solid pitching and a 3-run 7th inning pushed the Viñeros de Tri-City (27-36 2H, 56-70) past the Spokane Indians (29-34 2H, 63-64) to a 4-2 win Thursday night at Gesa Stadium.
The game began as a pitcher’s duel between Tri-City starter Jose Salvador and Spokane hurler Chris McMahon, with both starters giving up only one run in their outing and neither issuing a walk. Salvador went six innings, giving up four hits while striking out eight. McMahon went five innings, giving up seven hits and striking out two.
The Viñeros opened the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd inning. 3B Christian Molfetta led off the inning with a double down the left field line, evading the tag attempt of Indians 2B Eddy Diaz for the two-bagger. Advancing to third base on a fly ball, Molfetta scored on an RBI single by CF D’Shawn Knowles through a drawn-in infield for a 1-0 lead.
Spokane tied the game in the top of the 6th inning. LF Braiden Ward socked a double down the right field line, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Diaz. C Ronaiker Palma came up, hitting a groundball to the left side of a drawn-in Viñeros infield just slow enough for SS Osmy Gregorio to go to first for the sure out. The RBI groundout scored Ward for a 1-1 tie.
Tri-City retook the lead via a two-out rally plating three runs in the bottom of the 7th inning off Indians reliever Anderson Pilar (5-3). DH Dylan Phillips singled to left field to extend the inning. C Evan Russell drew a walk, putting runners at first and second. Molfetta came up and doubled again down the left field line, scoring both Phillips and Russell for a 3-1 lead. LF Mike Peabody followed with a groundball to first bobbled for an error, scoring Molfetta to make it 4-1.
Reliever Dylan King (2-2) retired the first five batters he faced, including striking out the first two he saw in the top of the 8th. Spokane then hit back with a two-out rally, beginning with Ward drawing a walk. Diaz and Palma singled to load the bases and 1B Colin Simpson then singled on the infield to score Ward and get the visitors within two at 4-2, the bases still loaded.
Viñeros closer Ivan Armstrong was then called in to put out the fire, which he did by striking out DH Drew Romo to end the top of the 8th. Armstrong came back for the 9th, working around a hit batter to finish the game and get his fifth save of 2022.
The Viñeros finished the season 4-2 with the win, and hand the baton to the Columbia River Rooster Tails for game four of the six-game series with the Indians at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Gesa Stadium. Two righties square off with Tri-City sending John Swanda (4-1, 6.46 ERA) to the hill and Andrew Quezada (9-3, 4.12 ERA) starting for Spokane.
It’s both Rooster Tails Jersey Auction Night and a Family Feast Night, both presented by Windermere Group One. The jersey auction is live at the ballpark, ending at the first pitch of the 7th inning. Jerseys will start at $85 with proceeds benefitting Mikey’s Chance, a non-profit canine rescue.
Family Feast Night, as always, includes $2 hot dogs and $1 bags of chips, ice cream sandwiches and 12 oz. Coca-Cola products for sale all night.
Friday night’s game is a sellout. You can listen to the game broadcast, though, beginning with the King Beverage Budweiser Pregame Show at 6:15 p.m. at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB First Pitch app.
Tickets for Saturday and Sunday night are on sale now, with limited tickets available for Saturday and special ticket rates available for groups of 20 or more. For more information on Dust Devils single game, season, mini-plan (11, 22, 33) and group tickets, visit dustdevilsbaseball.com or call 509-544-8789.
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