The Emeralds defeated the Spokane Indians by a final score of 12-2. The Emeralds have now won 4 straight games against Spokane and are currently on a 6-game win streak overall. The Emeralds sit at 49-45 on the season and a 15-13 record in the 2nd half.
The Emeralds wasted little time in the ballgame tonight. The Emeralds put up 4 runs in the first inning after holding Spokane scoreless in the top of the frame. Grant McCray, Aeverson Arteaga and Matt Higgins were able to reach base to start the game and load up the bases for Sean Roby. Roby ripped a shot through the left side of the infield for the base hit and McCray came home to score on the play. A couple of batters later Carter Howell ripped a shot out to right field and Arteaga was able to come home and score for the 2nd run of the inning. Brett Auerbach finished the inning off by ripping a line drive single out to left field. Roby and Howel both came home to score to extend the Emeralds lead to 4.
The Emeralds kept things rolling in a big way in the bottom of the 2nd. Ghordy Santos was on the 3rd base and Grant McCray was on 2nd. Aeverson Arteaga ripped a shot to deep center field but Benny Montgomery was able to get under it and make the catch. Santos was able to tag up easily and score on the play. McCray took off from 2nd in a hurry and was able to make a quick turnaround 3rd and came home to score on the play. It was an incredible play from McCray, as he was able to show off his speed to score from 2nd base. Luis Toribio followed it up by singling up the middle and Sean Roby came home to score. Carter Howell singled on a line drive out to left field and Toribio scored on the play. It was the 2nd straight inning the Emeralds had posted 4 runs and after just 2 innings it felt like Eugene had this game in the bag.
The Emeralds didn’t take the foot off the pedal and in the bottom of the 4th inning they added a pair of runs. Luis Toribio was able to reach base early in the inning and Carter Howell hit a home run to straight away center field to give Eugene the 10-0 lead. Howell has now homered in consecutive nights and has looked fantastic at the plate. The Emeralds lineup as a whole has come to life in the past week.
The Emeralds were able to add an insurance run in both the 7th and the 8th inning. Ghordy Santos hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 7th. It was his 8th home run on the season. In the 8th inning Brett Auerbach singled up the middle and Luis Toribio came home to score to give Eugene their 12th and final run of the evening.
Hayden Wynja got the start tonight for Eugene and he was absolutely dominant on the bump. He pitched 5 innings and allowed just 3 hits. He didn’t walk a single batter or give up a single run and was able to strike out 5 Spokane batters. It was another impressive outing for Wynja and he earned the victory in tonight’s ballgame for his 2nd of the season. His ERA sits at an impressive 1.29 on the season with the Emeralds.
Seth Lonsway came in for relief of Wynja and pitched 3.2 innings. He allowed a handful of hits and walks but gave up just 2 runs. Lonsway was able to strike out 4 batters and he worked himself out of a handful of tough jams. Lonsway loaded up the bases with 2-outs in the 9th inning and was close to 80 pitches in his outing. Tanner Kiest came in to face the final batter of the night and was able to make quick work of him to end the ballgame.
The Emeralds lineup has been on a hot-streak recently and they kept it rolling in a big way tonight. All 9 batters in the lineup recorded a base hit in tonight’s victory. They had 5 players record a multi-hit performance and Grant McCray had 3 hits as well as Carter Howell who ended the night with 4 hits himself. This offense has been truly special recently.
The Emeralds have now clinched themselves a series victory over the Spokane Indians after taking the first 4 games in the series and they’ll have their eyes set on completing the sweep over the weekend. Eugene has now won their past 9 games against Spokane dating back to a road series in Spokane back in June.
The Emeralds will be back in action on Saturday. 2022 1st round selection Reggie Crawford will be on the bump for Eugene. They’ll look to keep the win streak going as they continue to climb higher and higher in the standings. First pitch is set for 5:05 P.M.
