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NWL1 Eugene Emeralds

Ems Snap Skid, Level Series against Dust Devils

July 3, 2019 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


Rejoice, Ems fans, for the streak is over. After a forgettable start to the team's season-long nine-game roadtrip, the Eugene Emeralds (8-11) snapped a seven-game losing streak with a come-from-behind, 3-2 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils (10-9) in front of 1,396 at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, Washington.

Having dropped each of the prior three games by two runs or less, the Emeralds entered Tuesday night in Eastern Washington desperate to snap a skid that had lingered over the team since it left the Emerald Valley a week prior.

Things did not start well for the visiting Ems as Tri-City's Tre Carter opened the scoring in the second with a line drive triple to right field, plating a pair of runs in the form of Alison Quintero and UCLA product Jack Stronach to give the Dust Devils an early 2-0 lead.

The two-run advantage lasted only a matter of minutes thanks to the bat of Fernando Kelli. With Luis Vazquez on second after a leadoff single and a wild pitch from Tri-City starter Nick Thwaits, Kelli smacked the first pitch he saw to center field allowing Vazquez to score and cut the Emeralds' deficit to just one run.

The scoreboard stayed 2-1 in TC's favor until the eighth inning when the Emeralds' long-awaited breakthrough finally came.

With Yovanny Cuevas on second and Kelli on first after a walk and single to lead off the inning, respectively, Edmond Americaan moved both runners up 90 feet on a soft ground. With Cuevas now on third and Kelli on second, Luis Diaz tied the game on a seeing-eye single to shortstop Jordy Barley that left the young infielder with no play at any base, scoring Cuevas while putting runners on the corners with just one out. Yonathan Perlaza then followed with the go-ahead RBI, a single to to center field that allowed Kelli to easily cross home plate and put the Ems ahead for the first time of the night, 3-2.

That led to Emeralds manager Lance Rymel calling on former Michigan State Spartan Riley McCauley to enter out of the bullpen to secure the save, and he would do exactly that, striking out two of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth to secure the save, his third of the season.

Despite taking a no-decision, starting pitcher Zach Mort put forth another strong outing on the mound for the Ems, bouncing back nicely from a tough outing in his last appearance. The George Mason product lowered his ERA on the season to 3.60 with his performance on Tuesday night.

Not to be overshadowed, McCauley has now struck an eye-popping 17 batters in just 8.2 innings of work with the Ems this season.

Eugene will now aim to head home on the hells of back-to-back wins as they take on the Tri-City Dust Devils at 7:15pm PST on Wednesday, wrapping the team's current nine-game roadtrip. Right-hander Kohl Franklin (0-1, 1.42 ERA) will take the mound against Ignacio Feliz (0-1, 5.11 ERA)

The Ems return home on July 4 to open a five-game homestand. Tickets to Emeralds home games are on sale now at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

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