It happened a couple innings later than it needed to, but the Eugene Emeralds ended up taking their 11th win in 12 games against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. The Emeralds won 5-4 after left fielder Justin Miller drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning against the Volcanoes Saturday night at PK Park.
“It’s just every day, grinding,” Miller said. “You just keep going and going, and I’m fortunate enough to pull out a hit every now and then.”
Miller, who continued his 14-game hitting streak with a single in the fifth inning, scored right fielder Lee Orr, who had led off the inning with a triple, atoning for the ninth-inning blown save of Emeralds closer Chris Wilkes, who allowed the game-tying run to score.
“I’d been having a pretty rough night to that point,” Orr said. “I made good contact, and the rest of the guys behind me did their job and we got the W.”
The game began oddly when Volcanoes center fielder Shawn Payne led off the game with a single up the middle, and then attempted to steal second base during the at-bat of left fielder Leonardo Ochoa. As Payne appeared to slide safely into second base, Emeralds shortstop Jace Peterson applied a tag to his backside, which was enough to convince first base umpire Travis Eggerts to call Payne out. Salem-Keizer manager Tom Trebelhorn came out to argue the call, but returned to the dugout.
Later in his at-bat, Ochoa hit a home run into the Emeralds’ bullpen in right field, and Trebelhorn was ejected by Eggerts as Ochoa rounded first base. As Trebelhorn came out of the dugout a second time, he shouted at Eggerts, “He hit a home run, I didn’t say anything and you threw me out.” Trebelhorn launched an expletive-laden tirade toward the umpire before kicking his hat three times and then shaking the hand of each Eugene player leaning against the dugout railing.
The ejection was Eggerts’ fourth in the Emeralds’ six-game homestand; his other ejections include Everett manager Scott Steinmann, Eugene manager Pat Murphy and Salem-Keizer catcher Mike Murray.
The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Emeralds rallied to score three runs against Volcanoes starter Cameron Lamb. Emeralds second baseman Casey McElroy led off the inning with a double to right-center field. Third baseman Duanel Jones reached on a fielding error by Salem-Keizer stortstop John Eshleman to put runners on first and third base with nobody out. After Jones took second base on a wild pitch, first baseman Zach Kometani hit a two-run single past a diving Volcanoes third baseman Garrett Buechele to give the Emeralds a 2-1 lead. Kometani then scored on a single to center field by catcher Matt Colantonio.
Colantonio, who went 3 for 5 with three singles and a stolen base while catching two Salem-Keizer runners stealing, was singled out by Murphy after the game for his excellent performance.
“Colantonio’s thrown out four guys, four good runners, in two days,” Murphy said. “It’s an underrated part of the game. He had three hits too, but he’s been an unsung hero for us.”
Salem-Keizer rallied to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning, scoring two more runs off Emeralds starter Juan Herrera. After Herrera hit Volcanoes first baseman Danny Brock to lead the inning off, he gave up a single to right field from Buechele to put two runners on with nobody out. Eshleman drove in Brock on a groundout to McElroy, and then Buechele later scored on a wild pitch from Herrera, who went 4 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits with two walks and one strikeout.
The Emeralds took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth inning when designated hitter Travis Whitmore led off the inning with a line-drive single to center field and eventually scored on a wild pitch from Salem-Keizer reliever Stephen Shackleford.
Eugene lost its lead in the ninth inning when Wilkes, who came in to replace Matt Stites after he gave up a leadoff double to Salem-Keizer catcher Joe Staley. Wilkes retired pinch runner Jesus Galindo, who replaced Staley, on a botched bunt attempt by Brock, but eventually allowed Salem-Keizer second baseman Kaohi Downing, who Wilkes hit with a pitch, to score on an RBI single by Buechele that just rolled past a diving Peterson at shortstop.
Orr, who started the game in center field, led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a triple that bounced and hit off the top of the wall, eluding Payne. Volcanoes reliever Wilber Bucardo then intentionally walked center fielder Kyle Gaedele and Peterson to bring Miller to the plate. After Bucardo threw four pitches that weren’t close to the plate, Miller walked, forcing Orr home from third base and winning the game for the Emeralds.
“You can’t ask for a much better situation than that,” Miller said. “Lee led us off right there, had to get on base, found a gap and got on third. We figured they would intentionally walk both guys, and bases-loaded, no outs, you go up there looking for a pitch to hit. He threw a couple dirt balls, got ahead and didn’t have to swing.”
Emeralds center fielder Donavan Tate returned to San Diego, the home of the Emeralds’ parent team, Saturday night to get a second opinion on an injury to his right wrist, according to Murphy, and is not expected to return this season.
The Emeralds travel to Everett for a three-game series against the AquaSox starting Sunday at 7 p.m., before returning home for a five-game homestand against the Spokane Indians beginning Wednesday, Aug. 24.