By: Jacob Archer
PASCO, WA — The Emeralds took game 5 against the Dust Devils by a final score of 3-2. It was a nail-biter all 9 innings but the Emeralds were able to take back the lead in the top of the 9th inning to secure the victory. With the victory tonight the Emeralds have now won 3 of the 5 games in Pasco and they’ll look to close out the 11 game roadtrip with a series victory tomorrow afternoon.
Will Bednar got the start in tonight’s game and was perfect in his 2 innings of work. He faced just 6 batters and didn’t allow a single base runner while striking out 4 hitters. It’s great to see Bednar have a stellar outing in his 2nd appearance with Eugene this season. Seth Lonsway was originally slated to start tonight’s game but came in for relief of Bednar and spun a solid 5.1 innings on the mound.
Neither team could find their way onto the scoreboard in the first 4 innings, but Eugene was finally able to push home a run in the 5th inning. Alex Suarez ripped a double off of the left field wall that had an exit velocity of 102 MPH off of his bat. The lineup flipped to the top and Turner Hill ripped a single out to center field to score Suarez. Hill put together another great night at the plate as he reached base 3 times and also added on 3 stolen bases.
The 6th and 7th inning were scoreless for both clubs as the pitching continued to be great. Seth Lonsway threw 5 scoreless innings and struck out a season high 8 batters. Lonsway was dominant tonight and it was great to see him find his mojo on the mound.
In the top of the 8th inning the Emeralds were able to add another run of insurance. Tanner O’Tremba started off the inning with a single and stole 2nd base. On the throw down to 2nd it got behind the fielder and O’Tremba was able to advance into 3rd base. A couple of batters later O’Tremba came home to score on a passed ball and that run proved to be crucial in tonight’s game.
In the bottom of the 8th inning the Dust Devils were able to tie up the game. Lonsway started the inning off with a strikeout and Andy Blake followed it up with a double. Ronaldo Flores then singled to bring home the first run of the game for Tri-City. Werner Blakely got a single and that brought Seth Lonsway’s day to an end. Hunter Dula came in the game and gave up a single to Caleb Ketchup to load up the bases with 1-out. Matt Coutney then hit a sacrifice fly RBI to tie up the game at 2-2. With Stevens up to bat Zach Morgan was able to back-pick Ketchup at 1st to end the inning and send the game to the 9th inning.
In the top of the 9th inning Diego Velasquez hit a double out to left field with 1-out to put himself in position to be the go-ahead. He advanced into 3rd base on a groundout from Rodolfo Nolasco and put himself 90-feet away from home. The next batter Matt Higgins drew a walk to put runners on the corners for the Ems. Quinn McDaniel then followed it up with a walk to load up the bases for Tanner O’Tremba who already scored a run in the 8th. The count was full for O’Tremba with 2-outs and the bases loaded. He was able to lay off a pitch inside for a walk that brought home Velasquez to score and it gave the Ems the 3-2 lead.
We went to the bottom of the ninth inning with Hunter Dula back out on the mound for Eugene. He spun a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game and give Eugene the 3-2 victory. Dula was the winning pitcher tonight for the Ems and it was his first victory of the season.
The pitchers were great tonight as they struck out a combined 12 batters while not issuing a single walk. The Emeralds bats did the opposite of that as they drew more walks as a team than strikeouts. It was a gritty win for Eugene as they’ve now positioned themselves just a game out of first place in the Northwest League.
The Ems will close out the series with their eyes on a series victory tomorrow to end the road trip. Hayden Wynja is on the mound for Eugene with first pitch set for 1:30 P.M.
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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