NWL Eugene Emeralds

Eugene Makes It Ten Straight over Hillsboro

July 2, 2021 - Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


HILLSBORO, OR - Ten. TEN. That's how many consecutive games that the Eugene Emeralds (33-17) have won over their in-state rivals after once again handing an 'L' to the Hillsboro Hops (19-30) in a 3-1 victory on Thursday night at Ron Tonkin Field.

THE DETAILS:

Winning Pitcher: Aaron Phillips (3-4, 4.91 ERA): 7.0 IP | 7 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 3 BB | 4 K

Losing Pitcher: Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 4.15 ERA): 7.0 IP | 5 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 7 K

Save: Chris Wright (5)

HR(s): Eugene: Armani Smith (4) | Hillsboro: N/A

HOW IT HAPPENED: For the second straight day, Eugene struck in the game's first frame, and yet again Armani Smith was behind the early scoring output.

Fresh off a two-homer day on Wednesday, Smith offered at the first pitch he saw with one out and one on in the first and rocketed it up-and-out of Ron Tonkin Field to the deepest part of the park, a two-run blast to left-center field that gave the Emeralds a 2-0 first inning advantage for the second straight day.

Eugene made it 3-0 in the third thanks to back-to-back doubles from Ismael Munguia and Will Wilson, respectively. After Munguia yanked a one-out, two-strike double to right field, Wilson followed with a ground-rule double to right-center field that plated Munguia to add to the Ems' lead.

Hillsboro immediately cut their deficit back to two in the home half of the inning, and they needed only two pitches to do so. Reece Hampton led off the bottom of the third by tripling on the first pitch he saw, and Spencer Brickhouse followed in the ensuing at-bat with a first-pitch sac fly that scored Hampton and cut Eugene's lead to 3-1.

Brickhouse's sac fly ended the scoring for both sides, though, as each starting pitcher - Brandon Pfaadt for Hillsboro and Aaron Phillips for Eugene - settled in smoothly over the next four frames with each ultimately going seven innings.

Tyler Schimpf pitched the eighth inning for the Emeralds and worked around some control issues to strand a pair of Hops baserunners, and Chris Wright closed it out in the ninth by recording his fifth save of the season to seal a 3-1 win, Eugene's fifth straight victory overall.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

Aaron Phillips - RHP: Phillips battled all day long on Thursday to earn his third win of the season. His seven-inning outing is the second-longest of his career, trailing only a complete game one-hitter that he tossed for the San Jose Giants on August 18, 2019.

Armani Smith - DH: Smith has made a habit of offering at the first pitch, and it paid dividends yet again on Thursday when he belted the first pitch of his first at-bat over the left-center field fence. In thirteen games as an Emerald since being promoted from Low-A San Jose, Smith is batting .333 with four homers, fifteen RBIs and a 1.009 OPS.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Eugene Emeralds and Hillsboro Hops face off again on Friday 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 2, 2021


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