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NWL1 Eugene Emeralds

Eugene Emeralds Open Five-Game Series with Everett

August 12, 2015 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


Misiewicz Notes: Has allowed just two earned runs over his last six appearances (23 IP, 0.78 ERA in that span)...Tossed 4 total innings of relief this year for Michigan State in a three-game sweep of Oregon at PK Park...Allowed one run on two hits in 1.1 innings in a 9-4 win over the Ducks on April 4 and allowed just one hit in 2.2 innings in a 7-4 win on April 5.

Last Time vs. Everett: The Emeralds' last meeting with Everett was to open the season. In the five-game road series, Eugene went 1-4 in series with its only victory a 7-5 decision on June 19. Adonis Paula hit a pair of doubles and drove in three runs in the win as starter Justin Steele allowed two unearned runs on two hits in five innings with nine strikeouts. Jordan Cowan drove in seven runs for the Aquasox in the series while Luis Liberato plated six runs and scored six times as well. Drew Jackson scored a team-high seven runs.

Hitting vs. Pitching: This week's matchup with Eugene and Everett is a pitching vs. hitting battle. Eugene has the third-best ERA in the Northwest League at 3.80 while Everett comes in with the top batting average in the league at .273. The Aquasox have scored a league-best 285 runs this season.

Four Lefties: Eugene will face four lefties in the series with Everett, with the only right-hander scheduled to go on Wednesday in Enyel De Los Santos. The Emeralds are hitting .271 with a .347 on-base percentage as a team against lefties as opposed to .236 with a .312 OBP against righties. Ian Rice is crushing lefties this season, hitting .379 in 29 at-bats. Eloy Jimenez is just behind him, hitting .372 in 43 at-bats against left-handers. Tyler Alamo is hitting .324 against lefties in 37 at-bats.

Second-Half Surge: The Emeralds are coming off a three-game sweep at Boise and enter tonight's game with Everett tied with Hillsboro and Salem-Keizer for first place in the NWL South Division with an 8-5 second-half record. Eugene went 5-13 on the road in the first half of the season but is already 6-4 on the road in the second half. Eugene has won four straight games, the longest active streak in the league.

Paula Since the Break: Since the All-Star break, third baseman Adonis Paula is tied for second in the NWL with 10 hits despite playing in five games instead of six. He's hitting .526 in that span with a 1.203 OPS, two doubles and two RBIs.

Pushing for .500: Eugene is one game under .500 entering tonight's series opener with Everett. With 25 games left to play in the season, the Emeralds are looking to finish with a .500 record for the first time since 2012. The Ems went 30-46 last year with identical 15-23 records in both the first and second half. In 2013, Eugene went 17-49. The last time Eugene finished the year with a .500 record or better was in 2012, when Pat Murphy's Eugene squad went 47-29 in the West Division. Murphy is now the manager of the San Diego Padres.

League Rankings: Frandy De La Rosa ranks third in the NWL with 14 doubles and Matt Rose ranks 10th with 27 RBIs. NWL All-Star Oscar De La Cruz ranks fourth in the NWL with a 2.39 ERA and fourth with 47 strikeouts. Reliever Pedro Araujo, also an all-star, is sixth with 45 strikeouts. Jose Paulino and Greyfer Eregua are eighth and ninth, respectively, with 43 and 40 strikeouts. Everett's Drew Jackson leads the NWL with a .395 batting average, a .453 on-base percentage, a .953 OPS, 34 stolen bases and 47 runs scored.

Organizational Rankings: With a minimum of 0.8 IP per game, Oscar De La Cruz ranks second in the Cubs' farm system with his 2.39 ERA. Eloy Jimenez is sixth with a .282 batting average (minimum 2.7 plate appearances per game).

Games to Remember (newest to oldest): Ian Rice was just a triple shy of the cycle in a 15-8 win over Boise on Aug. 11. Rice went 3-for-6 with three runs and four RBIs as he doubled in the first, homered in the third and singled in the fifth. It was his first professional home run...On Aug. 8 against Salem-Keizer, Oscar De La Cruz, Craig Brooks and Pedro Araujo combined for a six-hit shutout in a 1-0 win. De La Cruz allowed four hits in six innings with seven strikeouts while Brooks tossed two perfect innings with three strikeouts and Araujo picked up the save in the ninth. No walks were issued by any of the three pitchers...Blake Headley and Adonis Paula hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the 11th as the Emeralds won, 4-3, at Vancouver on July 18...Matt Rose hit his first professional home run, a three-run blast in the fourth inning in a 10-4 win at Tri-City on July 9...Ian Happ drew a walk and scored the game-tying run in the ninth inning at Hillsboro on July 3 before hitting a solo homer in the 11th to give the Emeralds a 2-1 win...Donnie Dewees went 3-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs in a 9-4 win over Tri-City on June 30...Justin Marra hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth against Tri-City on June 29 in a 5-4 win.

Seven Straight Hits: Eugene tallied seven consecutive hits on June 15 against Hillsboro. The Ems started the fifth inning with a double by Blake Headley, followed by six straight singles. Headley later came up to bat again in the inning and singled, Eugene's last of eight total hits in the big fifth inning. Eugene scored seven runs in the frame and beat the Hops, 8-4.

Prospect Rankings: In the most recent update of the Cubs' prospect rankings by mlbpipeline.com, the Emeralds feature four of the Cubs' top-20 prospects. The Emeralds' top prospect is OF Donnie Dewees. The second round pick in this year's draft was not ranked at the start of the season but is No. 8 now. OF Eloy Jimenez, previously the top prospect on the Ems' roster, is now ranked No. 14 in the Cubs' system with LHP Justin Steele just behind at No. 16. LHP Carson Sands checks in at No. 18. OF Ian Happ, who started the year with the Emeralds before moving up to South Bend, is ranked the No. 7 prospect in the Cubs' system.

Jimenez Second Youngest in NWL: Despite his considerable talent, Eloy Jimenez is currently (as of July 23) the second youngest player in the Northwest League at 18 years, seven months and 26 days old (Born Nov. 27, 1996). Spokane's Yeyson Yrizarri (Feb. 2, 1997) is the youngest. Both were named to the All-Star team.

Position Switch: Former outfielder Jae-Hoon Ha is on the mound this season for the Emeralds. He made his pitching debut on June 20 at Everett, allowing two runs on four hits in one inning. Ha climbed his way to Triple-A, hitting a home run in the 2012 MLB Futures Game during All-Star weekend, but never reached the big league club. He was a career .265 hitter over his first six minor league seasons (2009-2014) with 38 home runs.

Radio & Social Media Info: All Emeralds games for the 2015 season will be aired live on 95.3 FM The Score. Fans can also listen online (with a link on the box score) or via TuneIn. You can find the Emeralds at facebook.com/eugeneemeraldsfanpage, Instagram.com/eugeneemeralds, Twitter.com/EugeneEmeralds.

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Northwest League Stories from August 12, 2015


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