Sports stats

NWL Eugene Emeralds

Ems Fall Flat in Series Finale, Miss Chance for Sweep

August 8, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


EUGENE, OR - The Eugene Emeralds (49-35) missed out on a chance to complete a six-game series sweep of the visiting Tri-City Dust Devils (32-52), falling in the series finale by a final of 6-2 at PK Park.

THE DETAILS:

- Winning Pitcher: Jake Smith (1-0, 0.00 ERA): 2.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 2 K

- Losing Pitcher: Ryan Murphy (1-1, 0.00 ERA): 5.0 IP | 2 H | 2 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 8 K

- Save: N/A

- HR(s): Eugene: N/A | Tri-City: Rivas (1)

HOW IT HAPPENED: Having made his Emeralds debut back in Tuesday's series opener, right-hander Ryan Murphy looked to bookend the series with another win and finish off an Emeralds series sweep of the visiting Dust Devils.

On the other side, Tri-City trotted out the 9th overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft, Sam Bachman, who was making his professional debut on Sunday.

Both offenses were held at bay through the first two innings, but in the third the Dust Devils offense struck first for the first time this series, and they did so thanks in-part to some help from the Emeralds.

Livan Soto worked a walk on a full count to lead off the inning, and Jordyn Adams followed by rolling a soft grounder to Tyler Fitzgerald at short, but Fitzgerald's throw to first sailed wide of the bag and then trickled into the Emeralds dugout allowing both runners to advance another ninety feet putting Soto on third and Adams on second with no outs.

Carlos Herrera followed with a sac fly to left that proved just deep enough to score Soto from third and make it 1- 0, Dust Devils, and after Adams stole third during the ensuing at-bat, a groundout from Kevin Maitan allowed Adams to score and make it a two-run advantage for Tri-City after two-and-a-half innings.

Ryan Murphy gave way to fellow right-hander Nick Avila to start the sixth, but Avila ran into trouble right out of the gate as Steven Rivas took him deep on just the second pitch of the inning for what was Rivas' first pro homer, giving the Dust Devils a 3-0 lead.

A Livan Soto single and Jordyn Adams double over the next two at-bats, respectively, put two Dust Devils base runners in scoring position with no outs, but after a Carlos Herrera sac fly to center scored Soto from third to make it 4-0, Avila was able to tally back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and prevent further damage.

One inning later, another Emeralds bullpen arm surrendered a pair of runs as Solomon Bates saw Tri-City stretch their lead to 6-0 after Livan Soto drove home Francisco Del Valle and Griffin Mazur on what was Soto's league- leading seventh triple of the season.

Eugene plated a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth, and they did it all with two outs. It all started when Marco Luciano was hit by a pitch on the forearm (don't worry, Giants fans, he's ok) and Tyler Fitzgerald followed by singling to center field. Armani Smith then came up and wasted no time, offering at the first pitch he saw sending a single to center field that was bobbled by Tri-City's Jordyn Adams to help allow both Luciano and Fitzgerald to score and see Eugene pull within four, 6-2.

Eugene could get no closer though as the Emeralds fell flat in the series finale, falling by a final score of 6-2.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

- Ryan Murphy - RHP: It was a spectacular debut week for Murph, capped by firing 5.0 innings with eight strikeouts on Sunday while allowing just hits, one walk, and two runs (both unearned). Over his first two starts as an Emerald, Murphy has thrown 10.1 innings with sixteen strikeouts, five hits, five runs (ALL unearned), and three walks.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Eugene Emeralds enjoy an off day on Monday before hitting the road up the I-5 to open a six- game series at Ron Tonkin Field against the Hillsboro Hops. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:05pm PST.

You can catch all the action 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.

Check out the Eugene Emeralds Statistics



Northwest League Stories from August 8, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Eugene Emeralds Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central