Chicago Cubs 2015 first-round draft pick Ian Happ knocked his sixth hit and third double in the finale of the Eugene’ three-game home series with the Hillsboro Hops. Happ, however, was the only Emerald who could muster any offense against the top pitching staff in the Northwest League.
Hops’ starting pitcher Cody Reed, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2014 second-round pick, took a perfect game into the seventh inning and earned the 2-0 win over Eugene Friday night.
“He had it going,” manager Gary Van Tol said of Reed. “He got in that groove and you could feel that everything was working for him.”
Ian Happ broke up no-hitter with a two-out double, but clean-up hitter Eloy Jimenez struck out and left him stranded.
Jimenez missed another opportunity to score Happ with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Happ prolonged the game with his second hit and Jimenez crushed a line drive to the warning track, but the Hops left fielder tracked it down to end the game.
A 6’3″+, 240-pound left-hander shut out the Emeralds for a second straight night. Reed pumped upper-80s to low-90s fastballs down in the zone and froze the Emeralds for seven strikeouts. Last night, Hops starting pitcher Jared Miller tossed six innings, struck out eleven and improved his record to 6-0, his ERA to 0.66.
Reed was committed to play for Vanderbilt but chose to sign with Arizona out of high school. He was named Player of the Year by Alabama Sports Writers Association and Gatorade his senior year of high school, when he posted absurd numbers: 226 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 92 innings with a 0.46 ERA.
“At the end of the day, good pitching should beat good hitting,” Van Tol said. “I’m proud of our guys for battling after six.”
The Emeralds (15-14) have dropped six of their last seven games after winning five straight. Now two games behind Hillsboro (17-12) in the Northwest League South, they’ll look to regain the top spot in a five-game road series with the Vancouver Canadians beginning Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
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