In the second game of a three game series, the Eugene Emeralds defeated the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3 at PK Park on Saturday night.
The Volcanoes jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second with an RBI double by shortstop Ryan Howard followed by a sacrifice fly to center by Gustavo Cabrera. Volcanoes starting pitcher Victor Concepcion added to Salem-Keizer’s fast start in the bottom of the second by striking out the side.
The Emeralds would respond in the bottom of the third with a leadoff triple by catcher Tyler Payne. He would later score on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Yeiler Peguero to make it 2-1. D.J. Wilson then drew a walk, and Andruw Monasterio followed with an RBI double to tie the game at two. After drawing another walk by Taylor Davis, Matt Rose brought in Monasterio with an RBI single to give the Emeralds a 3-2 lead.
Eugene starting pitcher Manuel Rondon ran into trouble of his own in the top of the fourth. A throwing error by Monasterio followed by a hit batter and single loaded the bases for the Volcanoes. Rondon would respond with a timely strikeout of Cabrera and get Kevin Rivera to fly out to get out of the jam.
“We could do the little things and we pulled this game out.” Manager Jesus Feliciano said.  “That shows you a lot about our team character.”
The Volcanoes then turned things over to the bullpen to start the bottom of the fourth inning, bringing in reliever Nick Sabo to replace Concepcion. Sabo would get off to a challenging start, surrendering a single to Payne who then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Peguero. Following a strikeout by Robert Garcia, Payne would be thrown out at home for the final out of the inning. Payne was attempting to score from second on a throwing error to first by the Volcanoes.
Sabo would get off to a challenging start, surrendering a single to Payne would get a quick single and move to second on a sacrifice bunt by Peguero. Following a strikeout by Robert Garcia, Payne was thrown out at home for the final out of the inning while attempting to score from second.
Rondon’s night ended after four innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and struck out five batters while  improving his record to 3-0.
Michael Knighton came into the game for the Emeralds to start the top of the fifth, giving the team three shutout innings, and holding the Volcanoes to one hit while striking out three.
The bottom of the fifth looked like it was going to be a quick inning with two quick outs, but a throwing error to first by Volcano third baseman Manuel Geraldo extended the inning and the Emeralds were able to load the bases. However, Sabo would get out of the jam with a line out to third base.
After a three up, three down top of the sixth by Knighton, the Volcanoes made another pitching change, bringing in reliever Rayan Hernandez. Hernandez struck out two and gave up one hit before being pulled in the bottom of the seventh with an unknown injury.
The Emeralds would tack on an insurance run with Kevonte Mitchell scoring from third on a wild pitch in the sixth. Mitchell drew a walk to start the inning and advanced to third on a throwing error from the catcher while trying to steal second.
The Emeralds looked to Alex Santana in the top of the eighth inning to keep their lead intact. A walk, a throwing error and a wild pitch led to a run for the Volcanoes with one out before Santana picked up back to back strikeouts to get out of the jam.
Mark Malave came in for the ninth innings and picked up the save for the Emeralds.
With the win, the Emeralds improve to 12-4 and will look for the sweep of the Volcanoes tomorrow night at 7:35 pm at PK Park.