NWL Eugene Emeralds

Eugene Stymied Again in Pasco

Published on August 28, 2021 under Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


PASCO, WA - The Eugene Emeralds (57-44) suffered their fourth straight defeat at the hands of the cellar dwelling Tri-City Dust Devils (39-59) who handed the Ems a 3-1 loss on Friday night at Gesa Stadium.

THE DETAILS:

Winning Pitcher: Hector Yan (3-7, 5.27 ERA): 4.1 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 4 BB | 11 K

Losing Pitcher: Ryan Murphy (2-2, 1.65 ERA): 5.0 IP | 3 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 3 BB | 8 K

Save: Dakota Donovan (1)

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

HOW IT HAPPENED: Entering Friday night, the series thus far had been one of frustration for the Emeralds. Eugene hit the road to take on last place Tri-City in a tie for first place with the Everett AquaSox, but despite Everett losing two-of-three to start the week the Emeralds had in fact lost ground in the standings after a pair of close, frustrating loses that was followed by a sound defeat on Thursday night.

However, Friday night seemed to see a different Emeralds team take the diamond as the Ems came out of the gate with aggressive approaches at the plate, and that aggressiveness paid off in the second when the Ems opened the scoring when Logan Wyatt and Franklin Labour singled in back-to-back at-bats, both coming early in the count, and Carter Aldrete then followed with a towering sac fly to deep right-center field to score Wyatt from third and put Eugene up, 1-0.

However, Eugene missed out on adding another run in the inning as Labour was later gunned out at home on an awkward baserunning play that saw him take off for home on a routine grounder to short.

In the bottom half of the second, Tri-City came back to tie it thanks to some early-inning good fortune followed by some late-inning misfortune to the detriment of the Ems. Kevin Maitan reached with one out on an infield single away from the shift, and after a Kyle Kasser walk, Adrian Rondon looped a soft single to left field where Eugene's Jairo Pomares appeared caught between deciding whether to slide and attempt to catch it on the fly or let the ball fall and play it on the hop. In the end, the ball did fall and it then got past Pomares to thereby allow the not-so-speedy Maitain to score from second to tie the game at 1-1.

Two innings later, Tri-City took their field lead of the game when Ryan Murphy surrendered his first High-A homer, a no-doubter off the bat of 27-year-old Braxton Martinez who mashed his first High-A homer in his second game since being promoted from Low-A Inland Empire to put the Dust Devils in front, 2-1.

Eugene's bats then went quiet over the middle and late innings as Tri-City's Hector Yan flummoxed the entire Emeralds lineup, racking up eleven strikeouts over 4.2 innings in relief as the Emeralds offense could not answer what Yan had to offer.

Tri-City padded their lead in the eighth when a Travis Perry wild pitch with two strikes and two outs allowed a runner to score from third to make it a 3-1, but Eugene loaded the bases in the ninth after a two-out single from Brett Auerbach, a Marco Luciano single on a misplayed ball by Martinez at first, and a walk worked on a full count by Armani Smith.

That brought up Sean Roby, one of the hottest hitters in all of High-A. While Roby battled, it was the Dust Devils who prevailed in the end as the Emeralds slugger popped out in the infield to cap another frustrating loss for the Emeralds, 3-1.

Eugene finished the night 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position while leaving twelve runners on base. Through four games this series, the Ems have gone 2-for-36 with runners in scoring position and have left thirty runners on base.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

Ryan Murphy - RHP: Despite taking his second loss in High-A, both to the Dust Devils and both coming in rather tough-luck circumstances, Murphy once again retook the Minor League lead in strikeouts by piling up eight punchouts over five innings of work. Murphy now has an MiLB best 156 strikeouts in 103.1 innings pitched.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Eugene Emeralds continue their six-game series in Pasco, Washington against the Tri-City Dust Devils on Saturday. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 7:05pm PST.

You can catch all the action with road broadcaster 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

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Northwest League Stories from August 28, 2021


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