Pasco, WA--- Tyler Massey reached on an error in his final at bat of the night and finished the game without a hit in four at bats to end his Tri-City Dust Devils season-long hitting streak at 18 games. The Dust Devils outfielder was not the only one who struggled as the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes pitched a shutout and won 4-0 in front of 1,585 at Gesa Stadium Wednesday night.
Tri-City threatened in the ninth, loading the bases on two walks and a base hit with nobody out against Volcanoes reliever Cody Hall. Hall would bounce back, striking out Jayson Langfels swinging and David Hernandez looking before Salem-Keizer would bring in closer Phil McCormick. The left-hander, who picked up the loss on Tuesday night, got Brian Humphries to ground out to second and picked up his sixth save of the season. Tri-City left ten runners on base in the game.
The Dust Devils were stymied for most of the game by Australian starting pitcher Cameron Lamb (4-6) who picked up the win, tossing six shutout innings. The right-hander, pitching in his second season with Salem-Keizer, allowed only four hits, did not walk anybody, and struck out three batters. Volcanoes pitchers Lamb, Chris Gloor, Hall, and McCormick combined to strike out seven batters, three of them looking. In the first two games of the series, Tri-City batters have struck out 17 times, nine of them with the bat still on their shoulder.
Ricardo Ferrer (2-6) took the loss, allowing three runs – two earned – in five innings of work. The Venezuelan right-hander has allowed 18 unearned runs this season. Dust Devils relievers Rhett Ballard and Chris Dennis combined for three innings of shutout relief and reliever Jeremiah Sammy allowed one run in the ninth inning.
Volcanoes lead-off man Jesus Galindo went 2-for-2 with a single, a triple, a RBI, and two stolen bases. He has now stolen 45 bases on the season. Second baseman Kaohi Downing knocked in two runs on two singles and has tallied three RBIs in the first two games of the series. Tri-City pitching continued to shut down Mike Murray and Brett Krill. The two Northwest League postseason all-stars are now a combined 0-for-15 hitting in the four and five spots of the Volcanoes order.
The Dust Devils (19-6, 41-32) and Volcanoes (18-17, 34-39) will play the third game of the five game series Thursday night. Tyler Gagnon (3-3, 2.66) will take the hill for Tri-City against Volcanoes starter Paul Davis (1-0, 1.80). Fans will receive Dust Devils posters courtesy of the Tri-City Herald. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm at Gesa Stadium.
