The Eugene Emeralds’ recent skid may have them on the outside looking in as their opportunity to clinch a playoff spot approaches.
The Emeralds (23-12) have hit a rough patch of late, as they lost their eighth game in 10 days Friday night, falling 7-1 to the Vancouver Canadians (23-12) at PK Park.
“We’re not playing good enough over the last two weeks to think for one minute that we can be in a pennant race,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said.
Eugene’s offense was nonexistent, as only one runner passed second base and the team could only muster three hits on a dominant performance by Vancouver starting pitcher Blake McFarland, who went six innings, allowing all three hits while striking out four Emeralds batters.
“These are young kids playing for the first time, 35 ballgames in a row, in a 36-day span,” Murphy said. “They’re a little tired, I think, they’re a little banged up, and they’re inexperienced. They’re trying as hard as they can, and, quite frankly, I’m proud of them.”
Vancouver’s offense, on the other hand, was firing on all cylinders. The Canadians lit up Emeralds starter James Needy, scoring five runs in four 1/3 innings on their way to tying Eugene for the Northwest League West Division lead with only three games left in the season’s first half.
Vancouver started the scoring in the top of the first inning when right fielder Nick Baligod hit a double past Emeralds first baseman Zach Kometani to score leadoff hitter Jon Berti.
The Canadians added another run in the second inning when Berti grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Vancouver catcher Chris Schaeffer.
Vancouver added its third run in three innings when Baligod grounded into a double play that allowed center fielder Jon Jones to score from third base.
The Canadians finally chased Needy in the fifth inning when Vancouver third baseman Balbino Fuenmayor hit a two-run home run to left field.
“Needy’s line doesn’t look very good, but until the home run, he was pitching well,” Murphy said, adding that Vancouver’s first three runs were scored on weakly hit balls.
The Emeralds got their first hit in the bottom of the fifth inning on catcher Matt Colantonio’s single up the middle, and got a run back in the sixth inning when center fielder Mykal Stokes scored on a sacrifice fly from right fielder Lee Orr.
Vancouver struck right back in the top of the seventh inning when designated hitter Steve McQuail hit a broken-bat single to left field off Emeralds reliever Simon Berroa to give Jones his second run of the game.
The Canadians tacked on another run in the eighth inning when left fielder Matt Newman hit a ground rule double down the right field line to score shortstop Shane Opitz.
“We’ve got three games to play, and I feel like we can do it,” Murphy said. “I believe we’re going to do it.”
Eugene and Vancouver have one more game in their three-game series, Saturday at 7 p.m. at PK Park, before the Emeralds host the Everett AquaSox for a three-game series starting Sunday. The first-half division winners will be decided after Monday’s game, and the Emeralds would hold the tiebreaker over the Canadians based on head-to-head results.