Ems Drop Pitcher's Duel in Hillsboro
July 21, 2019 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Eugene Emeralds News Release
The Eugene Emeralds (16-20) dropped a tight one on Saturday night in Hillsboro, falling to the Hillsboro Hops (22-14) by a final score of 2-1 in front of 4,218 at Ron Tonkin Field.
A prominent starting pitching matchup headlined Saturday night's matchup with Cubs 4th rounder Chris Clarke on the mound facing off against NWL strikeout leader Luis Frias, but offense stole the show early in Hillsboro.
With one on and two out in the bottom of the first, Arizona Diamondbacks #5 prospect Kristian Robinson slammed his sixth homer run of the season, a shot to center that just cleared the outfield fence to quickly put the Hops in front, 2-0.
Hillsboro's two-run advantage held until the third when the Emeralds cut the Hops' lead in half. Luis Diaz led off the inning with a ground-rule double on the frame's first pitch from Frias, and after a groundout from Edmond Americaan pushed Diaz to third, the Emeralds third baseman trotted home on a Frias wild pitch to make it 2-1.
However, neither offense mustered much over the game's final six inning as only one baserunner advanced past second for the rest of the game between the two teams, enabling Hillsboro to hold on for a 2-1 victory.
Emeralds starting pitcher Chris Clarke looked strong despite surrendering the two-run blast to Robinson, striking out four Hops batters over 2.0 innings of work. In relief, left-hander Didier Vargas had his best outing of the season, tossing 4.0 innings in relief while allowing three hits and no walks with one strikeout. Hunter Bigge pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings for the Ems.
At the plate, Jake Slaughter extended his hit streak to 11 games behind a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. The former LSU slugger is batting .452 during his 11-game hit streak.
The Emeralds and Hops face off again on Sunday in the penultimate game of the season's first half. Zach Mort (1-3, 4.71 ERA) takes the mound for the Ems against Drey Jameson (0-0, -.-- ERA) with an expected start time of 4:05pm.
You can listen to the action live on 95.3FM The Score or on the TuneIn radio app.
Northwest League Stories from July 21, 2019
- Hawks Fall 4-3 in 12 Innings, Volcanoes Crowned First Half Champs - Boise Hawks
- Leyton Delivers, Robinson Homers Again - Hillsboro Hops
- 'Sox Fall Behind, 5-4 - Everett AquaSox
- C's Continue to Roll Topping Tri-City 10-1 on Sunday - Vancouver Canadians
- Ems Drop Pitcher's Duel in Hillsboro - Eugene Emeralds
- C's Stay Hot against Tri-City; Top Dust Devils 5-2 - Vancouver Canadians
- Volcanoes Victorious in 15-12 Thriller - Boise Hawks
- Kristian 'Robs' Eugene, Sonadores Win 2-1 - Hillsboro Hops
- Frogs Bounce Back, 6-4 - Everett AquaSox
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