By: Joe Krasnowski
EUGENE, OR – The Emeralds are in a major midseason flux.
A big part of the problem: So is the pitching, offense and defense.
As a part of a disastrous span of nine innings, the Emeralds’ 6-0 loss to the Vancouver Canadians showed that there are many issues plaguing this team. First, the pitching staff has few pitchers who can reliably throw up zeros.
Over 16 starts this year, starting pitcher Cesar Perdomo has allowed more than one run, just three times. Problem is, all three have come with the Emeralds.
This time it was Perdomo who labored through 4.2 innings of work, although he allowed just two runs, his outing was less than stellar with an abundance of balls and three-ball counts.
And by the time he was relieved by Daniel Blair — who saw his already lackluster ERA raised to 6.79 — the game might as well have been toast.
Matt Mikulski’s relief appearance wasn’t much better, as he allowed one earned run despite peppering Vancouver with center-cut fastballs and errant offspeed pitches.
Seemingly only more burnt out was the Emeralds’ offense, a squad that mustered just 6 hits in the loss.
Puzzled by five C’s pitchers, most notably Kendry Rojas who struck out six over 3.2 innings, Eugene had a bevy of issues on its hands. The team was shutout for the fourth time this year, and the first time at home this season.
In ten at-bats with runners in scoring position, the Ems went hitless.
Perhaps even worse, the team left 13 runners on base.
Indeed, the defense had its issues as well. A seventh-inning rally was extended by a misplay by shortstop Cole Foster on a blooper.
One moment, the Emeralds enter a series hopeful, the third-place team playing with the most positive of vibes, doing their best to mount a second-half comeback.
The next, they’re faltering amid empty at-bats compounded by an inability to put up zeros, their faces solemn, the game over.
That’s exactly the way the Ems felt postgame, the team defeated yet again, this time in disastrous fashion.
Short hops
We are doing a post-game interview with the player of the game post-game after wins. Uh, maybe tomorrow?
A lot of important Giants people are here in Eugene, tonight’s showing was far from the best of what Eugene has to offer — Will Clark is a baller, and won a bet with me tonight on the time of the National Anthem.
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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