There’s no place like home — even after mom kicks you out when you graduate.
For former Oregon second baseman Danny Pulfer, that adage held true Friday night, as he scored the winning run in the 13th inning to give his Yakima Bears a 3-2 win over the Eugene Emeralds.
“This is really the first game we should have won and gave it away,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said.
Pulfer reached on a one-out single off Emeralds reliever Greg Gonzalez, advancing from first base to third base on consecutive wild pitches before scoring on a groundout by Bears center fielder Justin Hilt. The grounder went straight to Emeralds shortstop Jace Peterson, who was playing on the edge of the basepath, but he was unable to snag the ball immediately, bobbling and missing his opportunity to throw Pulfer out at the plate.
Pulfer also ruined the Emeralds’ combined no-hitter in the sixth inning with an infield single and robbed them of at least two runs with a fine catch in the third inning.
The Emeralds pitched well enough to win the game, but didn’t bring the requisite offense or defense to the ballpark. Eugene had 11 hits in the game, but stranded 12 runners and struck out 18 times. The Emeralds had a costly error in the Bears’ two-run seventh inning, but also made defensive miscues that allowed each of Yakima’s three runs to score in the game.
“You strike out 18 times in a baseball game, you usually don’t win,” Murphy said.
Emeralds second baseman Cory Spangenberg continued his streak of reaching base in every game this season, hitting two singles and walking twice in six plate appearances, while also driving in Peterson for Eugene’s first run in the first inning on a fielder’s choice.
Emeralds starter Matt Andriese went three perfect innings, striking out three batters with 35 pitches before being removed by Murphy because of his inning limit.
“I’ve already thrown 100 innings this year, so that must be it,” Andriese said during the game.
The Emeralds had a chance to extend the lead in the third inning, but a two-out duck snort by center fielder Kyle Gaedele was robbed by a lunging Pulfer to end the inning and the threat.
Spangenberg scored Eugene’s other run in the fifth inning on Gaedele’s single to left field, but the Emeralds left even more runs on the table as third baseman Travis Whitmore grounded out to first base with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Emeralds reliever Will Scott replaced Andriese and didn’t allow a baserunner until the sixth inning — his third inning of work. Scott gave up an infield single to Pulfer and a walk, striking out one Bears batter.
Against Emeralds reliever Jeremy Gigliotti, Yakima scored two runs in the seventh inning on miscues by Eugene’s defense. After a leadoff double from designated hitter Zach Jones, first baseman Jimmy Comerota hit a rapid grounder to Peterson, who put Jones in a rundown between second base and third base. However, Whitmore dropped Peterson’s throw, allowing Jones to scurry back to second base.
The next batter, Bears right fielder Henry Zabala, laid down a bunt on the third-base line that Whitmore rushed in to field, but he threw the ball out of the reach of Spangenberg, loading the bases. Murphy then pulled Gigliotti in favor of Luis De La Cruz, who gave up a sacrifice fly to score Jones, then threw a wild pitch and did not cover home plate, allowing Comerota to come around and score.
“Our pitching staff was fabulous, but we played awful defense,” Murphy said. “We gave them two runs in one inning, five misplays in the same inning.”
In the ninth inning, Spangenberg — the Northwest League leader in on-base percentage by 90 points — struck out with Peterson on third base and two outs, squandering an opportunity to end the game and give the Emeralds a dramatic win.
The Emeralds missed another chance to score in the 10th inning when right fielder Lee Orr didn’t attempt to run home from second base on a single from first baseman Daniel Garce. Substitute third baseman Jorge Minyety then hit a fly ball that wasn’t deep enough to score Orr from third base, and pinch-hitter Zach Kometani struck out to end the inning.
In the 13th inning, Pulfer scored to seal the game for the Bears — who had four hits all night against stellar Emeralds pitching — leaving Murphy unhappy with his team’s performance and hustle.
“Credit goes to them for hanging in there the way they did,” Murphy said. “They played good defense, and in the last inning, their kid, the local kid, ran the bases like he was playing for something — the way we played a week ago. We haven’t played like that in a while.”
The Emeralds and Bears will play game three of their five-game series Saturday night at 7 p.m. at PK Park.