With back-to-back wins over Tri-City Sunday and Monday, the Eugene Emeralds got a little dignity back after a five-game loss streak to the Dust Devils.
And they won it back the same way they lost it: coming from nowhere.
Over the five-game loss streak, the Ems blew leads of nine runs, three runs and one run, and were shut out once. Then, Eugene got four runs over two innings Sunday night to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 victory.
Monday night, the Ems nearly blew a four-run lead in the bottom of the fifth inning in Pasco, Wash., before taking control with a three-run seventh to win 7-5. The Ems got the win despite 16 strikeouts by the Tri-City pitching staff.
Monday’s contest would have been a typical game in the series if the Ems had been wearing the Dust Devils’ uniforms.
Nicolas Romero (16) connects with a Tri-City pitch in a game last week. Romero and the Ems are last in the NWL’s West Division.
Scott Kelly gave a strong performance Monday night for Eugene, less than a week after he pitched a classic game, for all the wrong reasons, at Civic Stadium in Eugene. Kelly pitched six shutout innings, giving up only four hits, and left the game with a 9-0 lead last Tuesday. But the Dust Devils came all the way back — and scored eight runs in the seventh inning to eventually win 11-10.
The Emeralds’ bullpen, which was picked apart by the Dust Devils in that loss, did a magnificent job Sunday and Monday of containing Tri-City’s bats. After Kelly retired the first six batters and left the game with a lead, the Ems got strong relief performances from game-winner Greg Modica, Darwin Soto, John Herbert and Juan Mejia to close out the win. The Ems also got three shutout innings of relief Sunday night.
Ems manager Jeff Gardner (14) has his team 2 1/2 games out of third place.
The Ems’ batting order has been depleted in recent games. With players such as Doc Brooks and Josh Carter on the bench with injuries, the Emeralds had only 11 position players able to play Monday night.
That doesn’t matter to Jason Bartlett. The Ems’ star shortstop is close to the lead league in hitting, and he has been hotter than ever recently. Bartlett has hit in 12 of the Ems’ last 13 games, and had three stolen bases in the two wins for good measure.
Eugene will extend its road trip to Everett for the next three nights, where it will take on the third-place AquaSox. The Emeralds will then return home for a three-game stand against the AquaSox Friday-Sunday.
