NWL Eugene Emeralds

Early Offensive Explosion Ends with Ems on Losing End

July 4, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


HILLSBORO, OR - The Eugene Emeralds (33-19) dropped their second straight game on Saturday night, falling to the Hillsboro Hops (21-30) by a final of 8-5 at Ron Tonkin Field.

THE DETAILS:

Winning Pitcher: Justin Vernia (1-2, 9.35 ERA): 4.0 IP | 4 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 3 K

Losing Pitcher: Kai-Wei Teng (2-3, 5.11 ERA): 2.0 IP | 4 H | 6 R | 6 ER | 3 BB | 2 K

Save: Yaramil Hiraldo (1)

HR(s): Eugene: N/A | Hillsboro: Eduardo Diaz (5)

HOW IT HAPPENED: Eugene scored first in each of the first four matchups of the current six-game set against the Hops, and that trend continued Saturday.

Facing off against Arizona Diamondbacks RHP Taylor Widener who was starting for the Hops in a rehab assignment while working his way back from a lingering groin strain, the Emeralds took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to Will Wilson and some wild pitching from Widener.

After Wilson stroked a one-out single the opposite way and then stole second for his seventh stolen base of the season, back-to-back wild pitches by Widener allowed Wilson to advance from second to third and then from third to home to put the Ems up first, 1-0.

That lead was incredibly short-lived, though, as the Hops sent eight batters to the plate in the first and brought four of them around to score. Hillsboro tied the game after Kai-Wei Teng issued back-to-back one-out walks, both coming on full counts, and then Andy Yerzy singled to left to score Spencer Brickhouse from second and tie the game at 1-1. One batter later, Eduardo Diaz - who entered the game batting just .149 - blasted a three-run homer to left that snuck inside the left field foul pole and found the grass picnic area beyond the fence to put the Hops up by three, 4-1.

The Ems returned serve one inning later in the second by plating three runs of their own to tie the game at 4-4. Ricardo Genovés worked a one-out walk that was followed by three straight singles over the next four pitches from Widener as base knocks from Franklin Labour, Carter Aldrete, and Brett Auerbach together cut Hillsboro's lead to just one, 4-3.

Will Wilson then stepped up and rocketed the first pitch he saw to right-center field for an RBI double to tie it at 4-4, but because of the trampoline-like turf at Ron Tonkin Field Wilson's double kicked over the right field fence and prevented Auerbach, who was at first base at the time, from easily scoring the go-ahead run and instead parked him at third. That proved pivotal as Armani Smith would go on to strike out in the ensuing at-bat and Diego Rincones grounded out to end the inning, keeping the score at 4-4.

Hillsboro continued the seesaw start to the game by retaking the lead in the home half. Cam Coursey led off the inning with a bloop single into no-man's-land in left field, and after later advancing to third on a wild pitch by Teng, Coursey came home to score on a passed ball by Genovés to put the Hops back in front, 5-4. Hillsboro added one more in the inning when Tristin English drove in Jorge Barrosa to make it 6-4 after Barrosa had been hit by a pitch on a full count and then advanced to second on the aforementioned passed ball.

The Hops put up another crooked number in the third and added to their lead. Eugene turned to RHP Jasier Herrera out of the 'pen to start the third, but Columbia native ran into trouble right out of the gate after surrendering back-to-back singles and then issuing a wild pitch that put runners on first and third with no outs. Reece Hampton then singled to right field, but two runs somehow came into score as a lack of urgency from the Ems resulted in Nick Dalesandro coming around all the way from first base to make it 8-4 after just three innings.

The chaos subsided over the next few frames as each offense was held in check until the eighth when the Ems got one back. Tyler Fitzgerald and Logan Wyatt led off the inning with back-to-back singles to breathe a bit of life into the Emeralds offense, but Ricardo Genovés grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to quickly put the Emeralds down to their final four outs while still trailing by four. Still, though, with Tyler Fitzgerald advancing to third and Labour at the plate, Labour roped the first pitch he saw into the left-center field gap for an RBI triple to score Fitzgerald and make it 8-5, Hops.

The Ems could inch no closer, though, as they went quickly and quietly the rest of the way to see the Hops win their second straight over the Ems, this time by a final of 8-5.

Emeralds starting pitcher Kai-Wei Teng struggled with his control on Saturday and worked just 2.0 innings, tied for his shortest outing of the season.

Utility man Brett Auerbach, normally a catcher by trade and playing in just his second game with the Ems since being recently promoted from Low-A San Jose, showed some fine defensive ability playing at third base.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

Will Wilson - SS: It was a solid day for Wilson both at the plate and in the field, going 2-for-5 with a double, a run, and an RBI at the dish while making a handful of not-so-routine plays in the field look routine.

Logan Wyatt - 1B: Wyatt continues to be an on-base machine by going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, and he's shown a knack of late to hit away from the shift and go the opposite way, as he did with one of his two hits on Saturday night. Wyatt has now reached safely in 26 of his last 27 games, including seven straight.

The Bullpen: The bullpen continues to be a point of supreme strength for the Emeralds. Two right-handed relievers, Jasier Herrera and Solomon Bates, combined to fire 6.0 innings (3.0 each) with five hits, two earned runs, two walks and seven strikeouts.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Eugene Emeralds and Hillsboro Hops face off again on Sunday at 7:05pm PST in Hillsboro.

You can listen live to all the action with Alex Stimson on the call via 95.3FM The Score, via MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.

Tickets to Emeralds home games are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

Check out the Eugene Emeralds Statistics



Northwest League Stories from July 4, 2021


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