After Eugene Emeralds starter Will Scott gave up a lone hit in six innings of work Wednesday night, the Emeralds were nursing a 1-0 lead over the visiting Everett AquaSox going into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Twelve batters later, the Emeralds didn’t have to worry about a close game, as they scored seven runs and cruised to an eventual 8-3 win at PK Park.
“I was just like, ‘Yes, I got a win,’” Scott said. “It’s good to see. As a team, we’ve been struggling hitting the ball. Now I know we’re hitting the ball real good. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
Scott’s masterful performance kept the AquaSox at bay for the first six innings, as only Everett leadoff hitter Danny Lopez recorded a hit, a single to center field to open the game. After that, Scott rolled through his second start with the Emeralds, holding the next 19 batters hitless, striking out six — all swinging — with no walks and two runners reaching via error.
Scott’s mind-set on the mound was simple.
“Just keep throwing strikes. Make these guys beat me,” Scott said. “All night, I stayed in the zone, and it just worked. I trusted my defense.”
The game was scoreless until Emeralds right fielder Lee Orr opened the scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run to left field on the first pitch of the inning.
“It was just a first-pitch hanging slider, and it was a pitch that throughout the year, I’ve been letting it go and not trusting just to swing at it,” Orr said. “I put a good swing on it, made good contact.”
The home run was only Eugene’s second hit off Everett starter Stephen Landazuri, who was dominant in the first six innings of his start before hitting a rough patch in the seventh inning. After striking out Emeralds catcher Matt Colantonio to lead off the inning, he gave up singles to Emeralds shortstop Casey McElroy and Orr before being lifted in favor of reliever David Colvin.
“3-0, I saw a strike and got a good read on it. He put one right over the middle of the plate and just didn’t try to do to much, got a good hit and started a rally,” Orr said.”We got seven right there and put the game away.”
After giving up an RBI single to Emeralds first baseman Zach Kometani to score McElroy, Colvin coaxed a ground ball from Eugene center fielder Kyle Gaedele, but Everett first baseman Jharmidy DeJesus threw a potential inning-ending double-play ball into left field, allowing Orr to score from second base.
After that, the floodgates opened up for the Emeralds. What was a three-run lead quickly became seven, as Colvin failed to retire a batter before being replaced by fellow AquaSox reliever Cody Weiss, giving up a walk and three consecutive singles. Eugene stretched its lead to eight when McElroy hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score second baseman Travis Whitmore and give the Emeralds an 8-0 lead.
First-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy was impressed with his team’s offensive performance,
“That’s how you play team offense, and that’s a team offensive effort, so that’s exciting,” Murphy said.
However, Murphy didn’t want the impact of Scott’s start to get lost in the offensive outburst.
“Anybody who pitches like that for eight innings, it’s impressive. Especially for a kid who had only started once all year,” Murphy said.
In the top of the ninth inning, Everett right fielder Jabari Blash hit a three-run home run off the video screen in right-center field against Emeralds reliever Greg Gonzalez for the AquaSox’s fourth and final hit of the game.
The Emeralds continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes that starts Thursday at 7 p.m. at PK Park. The AquaSox will travel north for a three-game series against the Vancouver Canadians.