The first play of Thursday’s game between the Eugene Emeralds and the Vancouver Canadians portended the fate of the entire game.
Canadians second baseman Jon Berti rolled over a simple ground ball to Emeralds second baseman Rashad Ingram, but as Ingram went to field the ball, he booted it for the first of his two errors.
In their first game in Eugene after losing six games on an eight-game road trip, it was more of the same sloppy play for the Emeralds (23-11). They fell 2-1 to the Canadians (22-12) Thursday night at PK Park, committing three errors in the first two innings and not recording their own first hit until two outs in the seventh inning.
“We’ve kind of just been in a little struggle lately,” Emeralds first baseman Zach Kometani said. “This past road trip was tough. They had a good pitcher out there today. We just didn’t help.”
Eugene was stymied by Vancouver starter Justin Nicolino, who went five hitless innings, striking out nine and walking one. After striking out the side in the bottom of the first inning, Nicolino recorded at least one strikeout in each of the next four innings before being pulled from the game.
As disappointing as the Emeralds’ offensive performance was, the pitching staff threw a gem, surrendering only two hits, both to Berti. Starter Colin Rea went three innings, giving up a walk and an unearned run with no hits. Rea was lifted for reliever Mark Pope, who went three innings, giving up one hit — a solo home run from Berti in the fifth inning. Fellow relievers Luis De La Cruz and Chris Wilkes finished the game for the Emeralds, with De La Cruz giving up an infield single in the eighth inning and Wilkes a walk in the ninth inning.
“This is a credit to our pitching staff,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said. “This is a hot team; they’re a good team — they’re experienced and they’re good.
Vancouver kicked off the scoring in the third inning when their left fielder, Matt Newman, stole third base and home plate on consecutive pitches to give the Canadians a 1-0 lead without a hit. Both of Newman’s steals came after ill-advised throws from Emeralds catcher Jeremy Rodriguez, who first tried to pick off Canadians center fielder Jon Jones from first base, and then threw down to second as Jones stole the bag, allowing Newman to take home plate.
Jones would never had been on base if it weren’t for Ingram’s second error of the game, another fielding error on a relatively simple grounder. After the inning, Murphy pulled Ingram, shifting third baseman Jorge Minyety to second base and replacing him with Travis Whitmore.
“Five or six balls have been hit to him in the four games and he has four errors,” Murphy said during the game about Ingram’s performance.
The Canadians got their first hit of the game in the fifth inning when Berti blasted a hanging 2-2 curveball from Pope over the left-field fence to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead.
The Emeralds seemed to snap out of their funk in the seventh inning, if only for a time. Shortstop Jace Peterson drew a walk from Canadians reliever Taylor Cole to lead off the inning, giving Eugene its first baserunner since the second inning.
However, Peterson was called out while trying to steal second base when it looked as if he was safe, which Murphy argued about from the dugout before being ejected from the game by first base umpire Matthew Czajak. Murphy then went into a tirade on the field, arguing for well more than a minute before finally leaving the field.
“They’re young. They’re just getting started. They’re trying to do their best,” Murphy said. “You’re going to have disagreements, but they’re for the most part doing a good job.”
Eugene’s offense rallied around Murphy, as Kometani laced a single to center field to break up the no-hitter, advanced to second base on a passed ball, and then scored on a single to center field from pinch hitter Jose Dore.
However, the Emeralds failed to capitalize upon their late-inning opportunities, squandering a one-out double from Whitmore in the eighth inning and a runner on third base with one out in the ninth inning.
Peterson led off the ninth inning with a double to left-center field that at first appeared to be a diving catch by Jones. Instead, it was ruled a trap, allowing the hustling Peterson to take second base. After right fielder Lee Orr flew out to Jones, Kometani hit a low breaking ball on a checked swing, with the ball barely staying fair along the third-base line before being hit by sliding Canadians reliever Aleson Escalante.
Dore came to bat next and hit a fly ball deep enough that Peterson could have scored, but the Emeralds shortstop failed to tag up at third base and did not advance. Designated hitter Dan Killian then struck out looking to end the game — Eugene’s 12th strikeout in the game.
Eugene now only holds a one-game lead over the Canadians for the top spot in the Northwest League. Playoff berths will be determined at the end of the first half of the season, which is only four games away for both teams.
The Emeralds will play game two of their three-game series against the Canadians tomorrow at 7 p.m. at PK Park.