Tri-City Turns Tables, Holds off Hillsboro

April 26, 2025 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release

Tri-City Dust Devils' Chris Cortez
(Tri-City Dust Devils)

After giving up two runs in the 1st inning, Cortez kept Hillsboro off the scoreboard and at one point retired seven batters in a row. The Las Vegas, Nevada native got the first two outs of the 6th inning before leaving the game, concluding his longest pro start of his young career. Lefty relievers Dylan Phillips and A.J. Block both had wobbly starts to their outings but steadied things in time, with Block striking out the late entering 1B Jackson Feltner to both strand the potential tying run in scoring position and secure his fifth save.

DUST DEVILS NOTES

-1B Ryan Nicholson continued his assault on Northwest League pitching, finishing a triple shy of the cycle and swatting his fourth home run of the season. He had an RBI single as well in the 3rd, moving his total to 15 RBI. The lefty from Louisville currently leads all of High-A baseball in on-base percentage (.519) and slugging percentage (.717), and leads all of Minor League Baseball in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.236). Nicholson also sits tied for the MiLB lead in doubles (8) and has reached base in all 18 games he has played for Tri-City,

-A three-run 2nd inning turned the game around for the Dust Devils, with the visitors first getting on the board with an RBI single by 3B Matt Coutney that scored Nicholson after he doubled to lead off the inning. 2B Ben Gobbel and C Peter Burns then struck RBI doubles following Coutney, with Burns' bouncer off the first-base bag and down the right field line giving Tri-City the lead for good.

-A.J. Block struck out four in a row as part of his save-earning outing, putting him in a tie for second place in all of MiLB in saves. The lefty from Bellevue, Washington's presence on the roster makes it so the Dust Devils have a Washingtonian on the team for a third consecutive season, and four out of the five years as the Angels' High-A affiliate (Ky Bush in 2021 and Shane Matheny in 2023 the other two).

SATURDAY (LATE AFTERNOON) IN THE PARK

Tri-City and Hillsboro face off in game five of their six-game set a bit earlier Saturday, with a late afternoon 4:05 p.m. first pitch scheduled. The Dust Devils give the ball to right-hander Carlos Espinosa (1-0, 2.77 ERA), who won his last start. Righty Mason Marriott (1-0, 3.29 ERA) gets the call for the Hops.

Broadcast coverage of the game, free for all to listen, begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 3:45 p.m. at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app.

Tri-City, following Sunday afternoon's 1:05 p.m. series finale, returns home to take on their Inland Northwest rivals, the Spokane Indians, in a six-game series beginning Tuesday, April 29th at 6:30 p.m. For tickets to games in the Spokane series, as well as for all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.

Tri-City Dust Devils' Chris Cortez

• Discuss this story on the Northwest League message board...

Northwest League Stories from April 26, 2025

• Hops Win Seventh One-Run Game of the Year 4-3 - Hillsboro Hops
• Dust Devils Force Extras, Fall to Hops - Tri-City Dust Devils
• C's Trounced in Everett - Vancouver Canadians
• Tri-City Turns Tables, Holds off Hillsboro - Tri-City Dust Devils
• AquaSox Crush Three Homers in 12-1 Win - Everett AquaSox
• Tri-City Wins Thriller, Hops Strand 10 on Base - Hillsboro Hops

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Tri-City Dust Devils Stories

• The Great Gordon: Righty, Tri-City Shut out Hillsboro for Series Split
• Dust Devils Force Extras, Fall to Hops
• Tri-City Turns Tables, Holds off Hillsboro
• Late Comeback Effort Falls Short: Dust Devils Held off by Hops
• Chec, Please: Marcheco, Dust Devils Shut out Hops