The Eugene Emeralds remained a half game behind the Spokane Indians for first place in the High-A West on Friday. After coming up short in a 3-1 loss on Thursday, they played another tight game but came out on the other end, winning 3-2. Franklin Labour provided the big hit, and left-hander Jake Dahlberg gave a strong performance on the mound.
It was a pitching duel for the first five innings. Dahlberg has shown spurts of dominance in between immense struggles this season, but his stuff was working on Friday. Through five innings, he kept Tri-City off the board while striking out nine.
The Emeralds scratched out just a single run in that time though, with Marco Luciano hitting a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Eugene led 1-0 until things got dicey in the sixth. Tri-City led off with a double, and a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly tied the game against Dahlberg.
Dahlberg struck out Kenyon Yovan for the second out, but then issued a walk that put an end to his night after 5 2/3 innings. Nick Avila came in and surrendered a single up the middle that loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought in the go-ahead run before a groundout on a 3-1 count finally ended the inning.
The Emeralds’ offense fought back in the bottom of the seventh. Sean Roby led off with a double, Luciano walked and Labour flipped the script with a two-run triple.
Despite it still being a one-run game, the Emeralds could breathe a little easier when Chris Wright stepped on the mound for the ninth, given how dominant Wright has been this year. Wright backed up that confidence with no problem, striking out the side in a hitless ninth inning.
The Emeralds now have just two regular season games left, starting with Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. game. They’ll be gearing up for next week’s High-A West Championship Series against Spokane, which will begin on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Avista Stadium.
