The Boise Hawks haven’t done anything the easy way this summer.

They made a habit of rallying from behind in their victories. They struggled through a number of painful road trips. And they waited until the final day of the regular season to nail down their spot in the postseason.

So, perhaps it’s fitting that the Hawks find themselves in a one-game hole in their best-of-three playoff series against the Tri-City Dust Devils.

“It’s kind of been that way the whole year,” manager Mark Johnson said after Tri-City defeated Boise 6-0 in the first game of their Northwest League East Divisional series. “We’ve always fought back from deficits.”

They’ll try to fight back from another one as the two teams play Game 2 on Tuesday night at Tri-City. Game 3, if necessary, would be played Wednesday night.

The good news for the Hawks is they won’t have to face Dust Devils starter Christian Bergman again.

The Northwest League All-Star was sensational for Tri-City as he pitched seven innings of two-hit ball with eight strikeouts.

“He threw a great game,” said Hawks first baseman Ryan Cuneo, who had two of Boise’s four hits. “He threw a lot of strikes and had all of his off-speed pitches working. … (He) kind of kept us off balance.”

Meanwhile, Hawks starter Jose Rosario struggled. Rosario came into the game with five wins in his past five starts, but when he left the mound Monday night the Dust Devils had a 4-0 lead. Three of those runs came on a blast by Tri-City designated hitter Juan Crousset over the center-field fence. By the end, Tri-City had pounded out 11 hits against Hawks pitchers in a decisive win that puts the Dust Devils firmly in the driver’s seat.

“We put the pressure on ourselves the second-half of the season to make the playoffs and we pulled that off,” Cuneo said. “So if we bounce back tomorrow, we’ll be OK.”

If the regular season is any indication, the Hawks have their work cut out for them. Boise went 1-5 at Tri-City and 10-28 on the road.

Joe Zeller, who has a 1.95 ERA in 12 appearances for Boise, will get the start in Game 2.

“The odds are against us a bit, I guess,” designated hitter Paul Hoilman said. “But we’ve got to win the best of three, and that hasn’t changed.”

Chris Langrill: 377-6424