Following a three-day All Star game break, the Eugene Emeralds returned home and were defeated by the Vancouver Canadians 8-4 Thursday night at PK Park. The Canadians delivered 14 hits against the Emeralds in a strong offensive performance.
“That’s part of the game,” Eugene manager Jesus Feliciano said. “They swung the bat well we have to tip our hats to their hitters.”
The scoring for the evening was started by the Emeralds with a two-run home run to left field by shortstop Zack Short in the bottom of the second inning.
Vancouver responded in the top of the third with an RBI double by right fielder Josh Palacios to score Javier Hernandez who reached first base on a scoring error to lead off the inning. Following a flyout by Cavan Biggio, centerfielder J.B. Woodman hit a double to put runners on second and third for Jacob Anderson, who tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single. This ended the night for Eugene starting pitcher Bailey Clark, a 2016 fifth-round pick out of Duke University making his Emeralds debut.  He finished the day after 2 2/3 innings, giving up four hits, striking out five and surrendering one earned run.
“He pitched very well,” Feliciano said. “He was aggressive and attacked the zone well; we were very pleased.”
M.T. Minacci took over pitching duties and was able to force a groundout to end the inning.
Minacci found himself in trouble in the top of the fourth after what looked to be a quick inning with two strikeouts. A double by Hernandez and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Woodman but Minacci responded with a big strikeout to get out of the inning and keep the game tied.
Tyson Miller took over for Minacci in the top of the fifth and despite giving up back to back singles, he was able to get out of the inning without surrendering a run.
Nick Hartman entered the game in the bottom of the fifth for Canadians starting pitcher T.J. Zeuch. Kevonte Mitchell walked and then stole second to get into scoring position. Catcher Tyler Payne singled, moving Mitchell to third for DJ Wilson. He laid down a perfectly-placed bunt to easily score Mitchell, who was running on the play, and give Eugene a 3-2 lead heading into the top of the sixth inning.
After a three up, three down top of the sixth for Miller, singles by Anderson and Christian Williams with two outs forced Feliciano to go to the bullpen for right-hander Dakota Mekkes. Bryan Lizardo walked to load the bases and bring up Yeltsin Gudino. Catcher Tyler Payne was charged with a throwing error that brought in Anderson to tie the game. Gudino followed it up with a two-RBI single to left field to give the Canadians a two-run lead.
In the top of the eighth inning, Christopher Pieters was hit by a pitch with one out and Wladimir Galindo walked to force the Canadians to make a pitching change. Two batters later, Short came through again for the Emeralds, this time with a RBI single to score Pieters and cut the lead to one. Mitchell then loaded the bases with two outs after reaching first on a fielding error from Lizardo. However, a ground out by Payne ended the inning with the Emeralds still trailing 5-4.
The Canadians kept hammering away against the Emeralds bullpen in the bottom of the ninth scoring a pair of runs on a single by Gudino and a double by Palacios. After walking Biggio to load the bases a sacrifice fly by Woodman scored Hernandez to push the Canadians lead to a final of 8-4.
Game two of thhe five game series between the Emeralds (2-5, 30-15) and the Canadians (4-3, 20-25) is Friday night at PK Park at 7:05 pm.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast3445