By: Joe Krasnowski
EUGENE, OR – The cities change, the results vary.
The result seems to remain the same for the now 12-3 Monarcas de Eugene. Victory.
As the season ages and the weather warms, games will have a bevy of runs and crucial moments within them.
Sunday night, however — as has been the trend early this season — a key coda of action resulted in yet another win for Eugene. Jack Payton led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and came around to score on Quinn McDaniel’s go-ahead double to right.
The Eugene bench — and faithful — went berserk after the knock, McDaniel’s eighth RBI of the year put the game away for good for Eugene.
McDaniel’s clutch two-bagger came amid his already torrid start, the second baseman’s batting average now rests at an impressive .370, he’s also stolen 10 bags in the young season.
The 2-1 win clinched a series victory over Vancouver (7-8).
On the mound for Eugene was another day of Dylan Cumming dominance. The 6 ‘4 right-hander tossed three scoreless innings while befuddling Vancouver with ease.
The start of the Liberty College alum’s stint in Eugene has been terrific. He’s dealt to the tune of a 0.64 ERA over 14 total innings. Saturday he allowed just one hit — a first-inning infield single — and struck out five of nine batters faced over three innings of work.
He worked in the mid 90’s with his fastball, 27 of his 41 pitches went for strikes on a day where he was in complete control
Cumming wobbled a bit with two outs in the third, falling behind Estieven Machado, but bounced back well, fanning Machado with a terrific changeup to end the inning. He punctuated the final whiff of his day with a fist pump as he walked off the mound.
His successor, Nick Sinacola’s day got off to a tumultuous start. Dasan Brown looked to have doubled to left but was called out at first after being ruled to have not touched the bag.
The rest of Sinacola’s day went much more traditionally, he mirrored Cumming’s perfectly, twirling three innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one hit.
Sinacola and Cumming have allowed just two knocks — both singles — over their past 12 innings of work.
C’s starter Pat Gallagher did his part as well, he traded zero’s with the Ems over 5.1 innings of one-run ball.
A Matt Higgins double in the third was the game’s only knock of the extra-base variety in the opening five innings of play.
Eugene opened the scoring in the fifth, Tanner O’Tremba singled, advanced to third via a pair of passed-balls, and was brought in via a Jack Payton’s fielder ‘s-choice.
Rafael Ohasi entered with Quinn McDaniel — who doubled — on second and no outs in the sixth. The Brazilian allowed a single to Diego Velasquez but evaded the trouble to keep Eugene’s lead at one.
Vancouver tied it at one in the seventh, after Dasan Brown— who reached via his ninth knock of the six-game series — came around to score
Julio Rodriguez allowed the lone run in his first inning of work but ended up enjoying the same success as Monarcas prior. He earned the win and threw a scoreless bottom of the eighth, finishing his day with four strikeouts in relief.
McDaniel’s knock to right was his eighth of the series, he brought home Payton giving Eugene all it would need for its division-leading 12th win.
Seth Corry, who had notably looked impressive in his fourth stint in Eugen, allowed the tying run to reach third with no outs but locked it down when he needed to, earning the save.
His eighth and ninth strikeouts of the season were big ones. He fanned the pair and took the ensuing comebacker himself to first, slamming the ball down once he tagged the bag, emphatically signaling that Eugene had won yet another game.
Corry’s ERA remains a perfect 0.00 over 7.1 innings pitched.
Los Monarcas will remain home, welcoming Hillsboro for a six-game series beginning Tuesday at 7:05
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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