PASCO, Wash. — Chad Zurat (Clearfield) pitched two innings with three strikeouts for the Tri-City Dust Devils in their Northwest League season finale that attracted 2,572 fans into Gesa Stadium Monday night.
He relieved in the seventh inning with the Dust Devils clinging to a 3-2 lead against the Everett AquaSox and fanned two of the first three batters he faced, hitting the other.
A two-out error proved costly, though, as the next hitter delivered a two-run double to foil Zurat’s first save opportunity.
The hard-throwing rookie right-hander surrendered a pair of two-out hits in the eighth inning before retiring the AquaSox.
The Dust Devils then took Zurat off the hook with a run in the lower eighth and won 5-4 in walk-off fashion in the ninth to finish 19-19 in the second half, two games behind Vancouver in the North Division’s second half race.
Tri-City wound up 33-43 overall.
Zurat, who was signed by the Colorado Rockies and assigned to the Class A Short Season Northwest League in mid-July, came out of the bullpen 10 times and worked 21 innings with a victory in his lone decision.
He gave up 36 hits and 21 runs, 19 earned, while racking up 19 strikeouts. He issued five walks and hit three batters.
Zurat’s earned run average was 8.14, a season low because of his last two outings, four innings with no earned runs.