The Eugene Emeralds finally lost a series to a team not named the Everett AquaSox last week. It came against the team that would be least expected to break that streak: the last place Tri-City Dust Devils. Such is the unpredictability of baseball.

The Emeralds lost the first five games of the series as their offense was completely anemic. They showed some life in Sunday’s series finale, avoiding the sweep.

The AquaSox happened to fall into a slump at the same time as the Emeralds, losing five of seven last week. So despite the Emeralds’ struggles, they still remain just a half game back of Everett. The Spokane Indians have also resurged to enter the race down the stretch.

Offense was lifeless

One of the key takeaways in last week’s series recap was how energetic and powerful the offense looked. This led the Emeralds to take down a tough Everett team. All of that energy was seemingly drained from them in this most recent series.

As a team, the Emeralds posted a .229/.284/.307 batting line in six games, good for the worst OPS in the High-A West over that stretch. That came with one measly home run. They weren’t getting many hits; and, when they did get hits, they weren’t hitting for power — a brutal combination.

Making matters worse was their struggles with runners in scoring position. Over the first four games, they went 2-for-36 in those situations and 2-for-43 leading into Saturday’s game. They weren’t taking advantage of the rare baserunners they had, resulting in five ugly losses.

Their pitching was actually solid and kept them in the games. But, in each of those five losses, they failed to come through with the big hit they so desperately needed.

Two Emeralds had individually strong weeks. Sean Roby continued his torrid August with a 1.060 OPS while hitting the Emeralds’ lone homer of the week. Meanwhile, Ismael Munguia went 8-for-16 in the four games he played in.

Logan Wyatt went 6-for-19. But with just two walks and a double, it made for a fairly empty .316 batting average. Outside of the aforementioned three players (and Robert Emery who only played in one game and went 2-for-3), every Emerald struggled mightily at the plate.

The AquaSox handed the Emeralds a gift

If Everett dominated Spokane while all of this was occurring, then the Emeralds could have very well kissed their division title hopes goodbye. But Everett lost five of seven to Spokane, making things a whole lot more interesting.

The Emeralds entered the week tied for first place with the AquaSox and finished the week just a half game out. But it’s become a three-team race now, with Spokane charging in from behind and coming within two games of Everett.

They were extremely fortunate last week, with the AquaSox failing to capitalize on what was one of the worst series the Emeralds have played all season. They’re still going to have to turn it around and get the offense back to the way it was in Eugene two weeks ago.

Regardless of who ultimately prevails, it should be an interesting September.

The Emeralds have another road series coming up, as they take on the Hillsboro Hops starting Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.