By: Joe Krasnowski
EUGENE, OR – There are no must-win games in May, but there are games in which you need to stop the bleeding.
The Emeralds found themselves in such a situation on Thursday, the first-place team entering the contest losers of two in a row against bottom- dweller Tri-City.
Lucky for them, they had a human tourniquet in the form of Dylan Cumming whose four and 2/3 innings of relief were key in holding an early lead. The 6-foot-4, 174-pound right-hander cruised through his outing striking out a career-high eight batters.
Thomas Gavello went two for three with three RBI’s in what the Emeralds hope was a momentum-shifting 9-3 win in front of a crowd of 1,412 at PK Park.
Offensively for the Ems, it was a collective effort that put them ahead early and for good — from players who needed it most.
Scott Bandura and Thomas Gavello — who both entered hitting .152 and .140 respectively — added knocks in a three-run bottom of the second. In the starting lineup for the first time in a week, Alex Suarez added a sac-fly for the Ems’ third run of the frame.
Before taking control for good, the Emeralds briefly nulled an early comeback from Tri-City which cut the lead to one — via an error and a fielder’s choice— in the second by responding with six runs unanswered. The Ems mounted the kind of resurgence that has been rare early in this series.
From there, it was all Eugene with everything going its way. From a balk — where Onil Perez fake stole home with the third baseman far off the bag — to a jam-shot blooper from Thomas Gavello, which nestled behind the shift and brought home two more in the fourth.
Ems starter Seth Lonsway — who threw just 58% strikes — evaded trouble well, allowing just two earned runs, stranding four, and holding Tri-City to go just 1-6 with runners on over his outing.
But it was Cumming that stole the show. His commanding outing lowered his ERA to a minuscule 1.01, he’s also now struck out 38 batters in 26.2 innings pitched.
His lone mistake — a smoked single to right from Kevin Bruggerman — was erased via a 6-4-3 double play in the seventh.
Jorge Ruiz added another hit against Cumming, blooping a down-and-away fastball into the picnic area in right for a ground-rule double. Cummings’s next three batters? All swinging strikeouts. All with silly swings — one of which made Ben Gobbel lose his helmet.
After the double, he went on to retire eight of ten batters. A two-out walk in the ninth ended his outing — much to his displeasure.
Although the Dust Devils’ bullpen did its best in keeping Tri-City close, but Chris Clark’s lousy start was impossible to absolve.
He allowed seven runs — six earned — as Eugene’s offense was scoring at will against the Harvard grad. Gavello’s seeing-eye single beat the shift and brought home two in a four-run third.
Short hops
Eugene batters were awarded 11 free bases in the game, seven walks, three hit-by-pitches and an error.
Lonsway induced nine groundouts but zero flyouts.
Cumming did not want to leave the mound.
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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