The Eugene Emeralds began a crucial series on Tuesday, taking on the first-place Everett AquaSox at Funko Field. They began the day 6.5 games behind the Frogs with seven games in six days coming up.
The AquaSox took round one.
The Emeralds lost 5-4 to Everett on Tuesday in a zig-zag affair. It was back and forth the entire game, and the Emeralds fell on the short end of the stick. They nearly rallied in the ninth, but left the potential tying run on third and winning run on second in a heartbreaking, nail-biting defeat.
A new Emerald started on the mound for Eugene: 27-year-old left-hander Jake Dahlberg, who the Giants signed to a minor league contract on July 24. He last pitched in affiliated baseball in 2018 before Tuesday night.
He took on a potent Everett offense and struck out the first two batters he faced. After issuing a two-out walk, he induced a groundout to make it through a successful first inning back.
Sean Roby and Franklin Labour each drew a walk in the second inning, but were left stranded. Dahlberg allowed a double in the bottom of the frame, but otherwise struck out the side, bringing his total to five punchouts through two innings.
Dahlberg struck out two more in the third, but allowed a two-out double that brought home the game’s first run. He still struck out the side and brought his total to eight strikeouts through three innings.
The Emeralds’ offense struck right back in the top of the fourth. After Ricardo Genoves doubled, Labour and Heath Quinn hit back-to-back singles to tie the game at one apiece.
The tie didn’t last long though, as the seesaw match continued in the bottom of the frame. Dahlberg fell behind the first batter 2-0, and then saw one blasted over the left-center field fence for a solo homer.
But it didn’t stop there. A run was scored for the fifth consecutive half-inning, as Brett Auerbach tied the game once again with an RBI single in the top of the fifth after Tyler Flores had led off the inning with a double. Roby then came through with two outs, hitting a double of his own to give the Emeralds their first lead of the game.
Dahlberg was taken out after four innings with the Emeralds up 3-2. He gave up two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out nine and throwing 86 pitches. It was a successful debut for the newest Emerald.
Jasier Herrera entered in relief for Eugene and allowed a single and a walk. Aided by a stolen base and a throwing error, the AquaSox were able to tie the game with a sacrifice fly.
The Emeralds stranded Labour on second base in the top of the sixth — the first half-inning where a run wasn’t scored since the top of the third.
That scoreless streak didn’t last long, as Auerbach came through in the top of the seventh, hitting a homer to tie the game yet again, this time at four apiece.
Tyler Schimpf came in for the seventh and hit the first batter. Judging by the way this night was going, that should have been an immediate warning sign. The next batter promptly doubled, handing Everett the lead back. It was the fifth consecutive inning in which the Frogs scored exactly one run.
The Emeralds entered the top of the ninth still down a run. Ismael Munguia was hit by a pitch to kick things off, putting the potential tying run on first base. Auerbach then followed with his third hit of the night.
Tyler Fitzgerald struck out, but a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance into scoring position with one out. Up came Roby, who hit a two-run walk-off double on Sunday to fuel the Emeralds’ 6-5 win. But Roby couldn’t replicate Sunday’s success, as he struck out on three pitches.
Genoves made the final out as the Emeralds just barely dropped the first game of the series by a score of 5-4. They were in it the whole game and nearly came back to win it, but they wasted a prime scoring opportunity in the ninth.
Now 7.5 games back of the AquaSox, they’ll look to bounce back in a Wednesday doubleheader starting at 5:05 p.m.
