The Eugene Emeralds dropped game 1 against Tri-City by a final score of 1-0. The Emeralds now move to 49-48 on the season and 15-16 in the 2nd half.It was a tough night for Eugene as they struggled at the plate. They outhit the Dust Devils 7-6, but just couldn’t cash in on the runs when they had runners on. They hit into a bases-loaded inning-ending double play in the 7th inning and had runners on the corners in the 8th and weren’t able to score a run. The Emeralds bats have been red-hot the past couple of weeks, so they’ll look to turn it around in a big way tomorrow night.
The Emeralds pitching was fantastic in tonight’s game. Trevor McDonald got the start for Eugene and looked great in his first game back since he got injured. He pitched 3 innings and gave up 3 hits and didn’t walk a batter. He also struck out 6 Dust Devil batters. The lone run of the ballgame came off McDonald in the 3rd inning, however it was an unearned run. Caleb Ketchup started the inning off with a single. Zach Morgan tried to make a back-pick to first base, but airmailed it over Sean Roby’s head and ketchup was able to advance to third base. A couple of batters later Joe Stewart singled to score the only run of the ballgame for either club.
Daniel Blair came in for relief of McDonald and Blair looked absolutely fantastic. It was his fourth outing of the year for Eugene, and after having a tough first two outings he now has pitched 8 consecutive scoreless innings. In the 4 innings of tonight’s game, he allowed just 2 hits and walked 1 batter. He didn’t give up a run and struck out 6. It was great to see Blair really come into his own and he could be a key piece for Eugene down the stretch. Brett Standlee pitched the 8th inning and didn’t allow a single hit or a walk and had a quick 8th inning.
The Emeralds offense struck out 17 times in tonight’s game. The lone Emerald to not strikeout was Aeverson Arteaga who went 2-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles. The Emeralds drew just 2 walks. The Dust Devils were 1-8 with runners in scoring position, and even though Eugene got shutout they went 3-8 with runners in scoring position. All 3 times the Emeralds had a hit with a runner on 2nd, they weren’t able to send them home. Eugene had opportunities during the game but just couldn’t capitalize on them when they needed to.
The Emeralds will be back in action tomorrow night against the Dust Devils. They’ll have a chance to even up the series at 1-1 if they can take the ballgame. Eric Silva will be on the bump for Eugene. Silva has seen the Dust Devils lineup a handful of times this season, and he’ll look to have a strong outing.
First pitch is set for 7:05 P.M.
