Bats Roar Back to Life While Murphy Is Masterful on the Mound
August 15, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release
HILLSBORO, OR - After netting just four hits on Friday night, Saturday saw the Eugene Emeralds (51-38) quadruple that total as the Ems muscled their way to an 11-6 win over the Hillsboro Hops (42-46) at Ron Tonkin Field.
THE DETAILS:
Winning Pitcher: Ryan Murphy (2-1, 1.04 ERA): 7.0 IP | 3 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 1 BB | 9 K
Losing Pitcher: Justin Vernia (2-4, 7.71 ERA): 6.0 IP | 8 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 6 K
Save: N/A
HR(s): Eugene: Emery (2), Fitzgerald (16) | Hillsboro: Yerzy (9)
HOW IT HAPPENED: For the fourth time in five games so far this series, Eugene scored first and they wasted no time doing so on Saturday night.
Hillsboro starting pitcher Justin Vernia got back-to-back strikeouts to start the top of the first, but Sean Roby followed by roping a double 112 MPH to center field on a 1-2 count and Logan Wyatt then brought him home on a 1-2 count as well, serving a single into left that scored Roby and put Eugene in front from the jump, 1-0.
The lead was short-lived, though, as Hillsboro plated a pair in the bottom of the first on a Tristin English RBI groundout and later a bloop RBI single from AJ Vukovich that put the Hops ahead after one, 2-1.
Eugene immediately answered in the second when they leveled the score on a Robert Emery RBI single, and the Ems retook the lead an inning later when Armani Smith led off the third with a single, moved to second on a Sean Roby walk, advanced to third on a Logan Wyatt flyout to right, and then came in to score on a Vernia wild pitch to put Eugene back in front, 3-2.
Meanwhile, after an up-and-down first frame from Ryan Murphy, the strikeout savant transitioned into cruise control from the second inning on as the 2020 fifth rounder struck out nine batters over seven innings of work, including a stretch that saw Murphy set down fifteen straight Hillsboro batters. In the process of his masterful outing, Murphy retook the Minor League lead in strikeouts, surpassing Cade Cavali (Washington Nationals).
In the seventh, Eugene padded their lead when Sean Roby grounded into a double play that scored Tyler Fitzgerald from third, and in the eighth the Emeralds seemingly put the game away as the Ems batted around.
The eighth inning started with Franklin Labour tripling to deep left-center field, and after a Marco Luciano groundout for the first out of the inning, the Hops opted to issue an intentional walk to Carter Aldrete in the hopes of getting a double play ball to end the inning and keep the game within striking distance.
That brought up Robert Emery and, to put it mildly, Emery made the Hops pay. The San Francisco native belted a three-run homer to left, his second round-tripper of the season, stretching the Eugene lead to 7-2.
Two batters later, Tyler Fitzgerald continued his tear in the month of August by launching a towering solo shot to left, his fourth homer of the month and his team-leading sixteenth of the season to put the Ems up by six, 8-2, with six outs to go.
In the home half of the inning, Ryan Walker entered as Eugene's first man out of the 'pen, but the usually sensational side-armer struggled with his command as the Hops loaded the bases via two walks and an infield single.
With one out and the bases juiced, Tristin English sent a soft grounder to third that the Ems aimed to turn into an inning-ending double play, but English was just able to beat the throw to first on the backend of the play, thereby bringing home a Hops run and leaving runners on the corners for Andy Yerzy.
Yerzy proceeded to wage war with Walker in what was a twelve-pitch at-bat that saw the left-handed hitting catcher foul off eight pitches. Ulltimately, and finally, Yerzy ended up getting the pitch he wanted as he launched a three-run homer to right to cap a four-run bottom of the eighth that saw the inning end just as it started, with the Hops trailing two.
However, Eugene added some insurance in the ninth thanks to one of their calling cards: two out hitting.
Robert Emery stretched Eugene's lead back to three with his fourth hit of the day, a first pitch single the opposite way to right that scored Franklin Labour who had led off the inning with a walk despite initially falling behind in the count, 0-2.
After back-to-back walks drawn on full counts by Kwan Adkins and Tyler Fitzgerald, respectively, Armani Smith delivered his fourth hit of the day and his first extra-base hit, a two-RBI double to left-center field that plated the second and third Ems runs of the inning to put Eugene up by five, 11-6.
In the ninth, right-hander Taylor Rashi left no doubt as he set down the Hops in order while netting a pair of strikeouts in the process to seal an emotional win on Saturday night in Hillsboro.
PEAK PERFORMERS:
Robert Emery - C: Just look at the box score. Go ahead, look at it. We'll wait... (takes long pause) ...See?! Emery finished the night 4-for-5 at the dish with a game-high five RBIs, a homer, and two runs scored in what was his second multi-hit game in as many starts this series. Through seventeen games played as an Emerald, Emery is batting .345 with a .924 OPS.
Armani Smith - LF: Another strong offensive performance for the corner outfielder as Smith matched Emery in the hit department, finishing 4-for-6 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Ryan Murphy - RHP: What a masterful performance from Murph. After a rocky start, Murphy was sensational over seven strong innings while needing only 78 pitches to get through those seven innings. As mentioned earlier, Murphy's nine strikeouts helped him pass Cade Cavalli (Washington Nationals) for the Minor League lead in strikeouts (Murphy: 141 K's | Cavalli: 139 K's). Through three starts with Eugene since being promoted from Low-A San Jose, Murphy has twenty-five strikeouts in 17.1 innings while opposing batters are hitting just .136 against him.
Sean Roby - 3B: Quietly, it was another strong night for Roby who finished 3-for-5 with a walk and a run scored. In the month of August, Roby is batting .347 and has reached safely at least once in eleven of twelve games played.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Eugene Emeralds and Hillsboro Hops wrap their six-game series on Sunday at Ron Tonkin Field. First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 1:05pm PST.
You can catch all the action with Alex Stimson on the call via 95.3FM The Score, MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.
Tickets to Emeralds home games are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.
Northwest League Stories from August 15, 2021
- Roby's Eighth Inning Blast Lifts Ems Over Hops - Eugene Emeralds
- Another Split Decision as Hops Fall to Ems - Hillsboro Hops
- Canadians' Power at the Plate Persists, 11-6 - Everett AquaSox
- Murphy Lays Down Law against Hops - Hillsboro Hops
- Canadians Attack Early, Often to Beat AquaSox - Vancouver Canadians
- Bats Roar Back to Life While Murphy Is Masterful on the Mound - Eugene Emeralds
- Bats Held Quiet on Saturday Night - Tri-City Dust Devils
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