The Eugene Emeralds took game two by a final score of 6-3 over the Spokane Indians. The Emeralds record now sits at 47-45 overall and they have a 13-13 record to start the 2nd half. It was a back-and-forth ballgame but the Emeralds were able to rally late.
The Emeralds were able to strike first in tonight’s ballgame. With a 1-0 count to start the bottom of the third inning, Carter Williams hit his second home run of the season with a fly ball to right field for the first run of the game. Shortly after, Grant McCray singled on a line drive to center field then stole second to put himself in scoring position. During Aeverson Arteaga’s at-bat, McCray stole third and in the process, Spokane’s catcher Bryant Quijada committed a throwing error which gave McCray the opportunity to come home for a 2-0 lead.
The Dust Devils were able to respond in the fifth inning. After Quijada walked on four straight balls, Braiden Ward hit a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher to put Quijada on third. The next batter, Juan Guerrero, hit an RBI double to center field to cut the deficit down to one.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Williams hit his second home run of the day to push the Emeralds’ lead back to two. But, the Indians were able to tie it up in the next inning.
In the top of the 8th inning, the game flipped on its head. The first batter, Sterlin Thompson, walked on five pitches, and the next batter, Jamari Baylor, singled on a line drive to center field to put two runners on with no outs. Nic Kent hit an infield single to second baseman Ghordy Santos, but after the ball bobbled a few times, Kent was safe at first. Eugene was stuck with bases loaded and no outs.
Back-to-back strikeouts were able to put Eugene in a better position to protect their lead, but Quijada walked on four pitches to bring home a runner to cut the deficit back to one. Two pitches later, Braiden Ward was hit, leading to a tie game.
The tied game led to extra innings. With an automatic runner on second after the game goes past nine innings, a wild pitch by Sam Delaplane put Jamari Baylor on third. But, Delaplane recovered well with three straight swinging strikeouts to put the Emeralds back in the box.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th, McCray was hit by a pitch for two runners on for Eugene with Arteaga up to bat. He only needed one pitch before he sent his 13th home run of the season over the center field wall to end the game.
Pitching-wise, the Emeralds stayed pretty consistent across the board with five hits allowed, seven walks, and 12 strikeouts. Daniel Blair was given the ball to start the game and after four innings, he walked four, struck out two, and gave up no hits or runs. Joe Kemlage was awarded the hold after three hits, one earned run, and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings pitched. William Kempner blew the hold after two hits, two runs, two walks, and three strikeouts, but Delaplane came in and struck out five in 2.1 innings and was given the win.
Game Three is set for a 6:35 P.M. first pitch. Eric Silva will be getting the nod on the bump for Eugene for his first home game since returning from Arizona. It’s a big ballgame for Eugene as they’ll look to move to over .500 in the second half.
