The Eugene Emeralds started out the second half of their season on the right foot, beating the Everett AquaSox 6-2 Tuesday night at PK Park.
First-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy put it simply, saying his team was “winning ugly.” Eugene committed three errors and had only seven hits, striking out nine times.
The Emeralds were led by dominant pitching performances from starter Colin Rea and reliever Mark Pope, and a three-run home run from left fielder Jose Dore proved to be all the pitchers needed for the victory.
Rea threw the first three innings for the Emeralds, allowing no runs, giving up two hits, a walk and striking out three batters — while accumulating 13 swinging strikes on just 39 pitches.
“I was feeling good today,” Rea said. “I kind of knew I was only going to be going three innings … since we threw so much in college, they want to keep our innings down.”
Eugene opened the scoring in the fourth inning when first baseman Dan Killian hit into a fielder’s choice to score center fielder Mykal Stokes from third base.
The Emeralds added three more in the fifth inning on Dore’s home run over the bullpen down the right field line, which also scored shortstop Jorge Minyety and Stokes.
“It was just kind of in the zone. I know I’ve been struggling a bit but he gave me a pitch to handle and I took advantage of it,” Dore said.
Minyety was in the lineup for Jace Peterson, who was rested along with fellow regulars Lee Orr and Matt Colantonio after the conclusion of the first half of the season the night before.
Pope pitched in relief of Rea from the fourth inning through the sixth inning, allowing no runs and two hits while striking out four AquaSox batters.
“It felt good. It’s still something I’m trying to get in the rhythm of, getting out here in Eugene with the new team and playing pro ball and everything,” Pope said. “It’s definitely been an adjustment for me, but tonight felt really good for the first time.”
Eugene scored again in the sixth inning, as right fielder Kyle Gaedele — who reached on a three-base error when Everett center fielder Jabari Blash dropped a deep fly ball — was driven in on a sacrifice fly from catcher Jeremy Rodriguez.
The AquaSox tacked on two runs in the top of the eighth inning off Emeralds reliever Luis De La Cruz, though both runners who scored reached on singles that should have been outs. Fellow reliever Kyle Brule came in with two outs in the inning and shut the door before pitching a perfect ninth inning to earn his first save as an Emerald.
The Emeralds tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to make it 6-2 when designated hitter Donavan Tate reached on a walk, reached third base on a throwing error by AquaSox catcher Mike Dowd and scored on a groundout by Gaedele.
The Emeralds travel to Spokane for a five-game series set to start Wednesday at 7 p.m. The team’s next game in Eugene will be Aug. 2 when the team hosts the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Northwest League East Division’s first-half winners.