By: Joe Krasnowski
EUGENE, OR – Jeremiah Knackstedt cracked a smile, sighed a deep breath of relief, then started to laugh with a disbelieving shake of his head.
After six-innings of lethargic mind-numbing 100-degree apathy on a scorcher of a day in Eugene, the Ems’ skipper would have liked his offense to get going Saturday night in a _ series-splitting win over Hillsboro.
Coaches minor-league and not, do always seemingly live, and die, with every pitch amid a gripping 132-game schedule.
Knackstedt’s heart might be worse for wear, but his lineup’s flair for the dramatic was once again for the best.
After both teams traded back-and-forth blows in the sixth and seventh innings, Diego Velasquez singled to right to give the Ems a decisive third run in Saturday’s sun-splashed win.
Really, the Emeralds had to grind through the entirety of a series-split with the Hops, with all but one of the series’ games being decided by one run.
Despite Manuel Mercedes firing five innings of one-run ball, the Emeralds still trailed by a run entering the decisive seventh frame.
With Zane Russell on the mound, only allowing runs in two of his last eight outings, it looked like that scoreline would stand. But then, in the kind of sequence the Emeralds have seemingly produced time and again this season, the team flipped the script by scoring twice.
Matt Higgins and Cole Foster added the RBI’s in the inning and for a moment, it looked like the lead would stand. But once the dam broke, the Hops quickly surged back — knotting the score quickly in the eighth.
Then, Velasquez — who has been as much of a sure-thing as an everyday staple at the top of the Emeralds’ lineup — came to the dish, singling home Justin Wishkowski.
The Emeralds could have collapsed far earlier Saturday night, their bats quieted by Hops’ starter Alec Baker. Instead, they rode the momentum of the two-run eighth into possibly their biggest win yet. Only furthering the Ems’ surge, Trent Harris limited the damage in the eighth, then shut the door in the ninth.
It might not have been as unlikely as their seven-run comeback earlier this series in Hillsboro, or as jarring as Ems’ collapses past.
But in some ways, after being held to just two hits in the first to their last strike, Tuesday felt like the Emeralds’ most dramatic, heart-stopping, out-of-nowhere victory yet.
Short hops
I dapped up Velasquez pre-game, he was due to come up clutch.
The Eugene Emeralds are the High-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants. The Eugene Emeralds are dedicated to providing the best in family entertainment and creating a fun, safe environment for everyone to enjoy watching a baseball game. For more information, please visit our website at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or call the Emeralds front office at 541-342-5367. • Emeraldsbaseball.com • Facebook.com/EugeneEmeraldsfanpage • Twitter.com/EugeneEmeralds
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