The Eugene Emeralds dropped their home series finale by a final score of 8-7. The Emeralds record now is 64-62 overall this season and 30-30 in the 2nd half.
The Dust Devils got the scoring started in tonight’s game in the 1st inning. Alexander Ramirez struck out swinging but it was a wild pitch by Seth Corry and Gustavo Campero scored on the play for the 1st run of the night. The next few innings were scoreless before the Dust Devils scored again in the bottom of the 4th inning. Joe Stewart hit into a groundout and Alexander Ramirez scored on the play to give the Dust Devils a 2-0 lead through the first 4 innings.
The Emeralds were able to answer back in a big way in the bottom of the 4th inning. Tanner O’Tremba singled on a ground ball and Aeverson Arteaga scored on the play. It put Zach Morgan on 3rd base and Onil Perez on 2nd for Brett Auerbach. Auerbach connected with a baseball and hit the Emeralds 7th grand slam of the season. It was Auerbach’s first of the season and his 5th home run this year and the Emeralds had a 5-2 lead after 4 innings.
In the top of the 6th inning Gustavo Campero hit a solo home run for his 11th of the year and Alexander Ramirez followed it up with a solo shot to cut into the Emeralds lead. Eugene now had just a 1 run lead heading into the 7th inning. In the top of the 7th inning the Dust Devils were able to reclaim the lead. Andy Blake hit his 3rd home run of the season and Casey Dana was on base. Alexander followed it up with a double out to left field and Will McGillis scored on the play to give the Dust Devils a 7-5 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Emeralds to answer back as they evened up the game in the bottom of the 7th. Jared Dupere hit his 20th double to score Carter Howell. Onil Perez then hit Dupere on a single out to right field and the ballgame was tied up at 7 after the first 7 innings.
It was a scoreless 8th inning for both ball clubs and in the top of the 9th the Dust Devils once again reclaimed the lead. Will McGillis hit his 1st home run of his season out to left field to give the Dust Devils an 8-7 lead. It was on the 3rd pitch of the at-bat and there was 1 out. In the bottom of the 9th inning the Emeralds were able to get a runner on base, but they weren’t able to tie up the ballgame and they dropped the game by a final score of 8-7.
Seth Corry got the start in tonight’s game for Eugene. He pitched 2 innings and allowed 1 run however it wasn’t earned. Brett Standlee then pitched 4.2 innings and gave up 6 hits and 6 runs while striking out 4 batters. Wilkelma Castillo pitched a flawless 1.1 innings and struck out 2. Nick Morreale pitched the 9th and gave up 1 run while striking out 2 batters.
The stage is now set for the Emeralds as they’ll open up their final series of the regular season on Monday night in Everett. For Eugene to make the playoffs, they’ll have to head into Funko Field and sweep the AquaSox in the 6-game series. It’s a tough path ahead, but it’s a doable path indeed. The Emeralds already have 1 sweep this season, and they’ll look for their 2nd. The Emeralds have won the previous 2 Northwest League Championships, and the hunt for their 3rd will start tomorrow night. First pitch is at 4:05 P.M.
