The Eugene Emeralds’ 14-game winning streak may be over, but right fielder Lee Orr’s hot streak seems to be just starting.
“I don’t think any of us got too down on ourselves for losing last night. We know we didn’t play our best game last night, we didn’t come out with the right intensity,” Orr said. “Tonight, we came out, played a little bit better, and got the W.”
The San Diego Padres’ 2011 13th-round draft pick hit his third home run in four games and scored two runs in the Emeralds’ (18-3) 6-2 win over the Yakima Bears (6-15) at PK Park Thursday night. In those four games, Orr has four hits, three walks and a hit batsman, and has scored five times and has 10 RBI.
“I’m feeling good at the plate, getting some pitches to hit and making good contact with them,” Orr said.
Led by starter Johnny Barbato, Eugene’s pitching staff was also dominant, giving up two unearned runs on three hits and striking out eight Bears batters.
“Orr’s hit was huge for the offense, but the pitching was great, especially because we weren’t on all cylinders,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said.
After loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first inning, the Emeralds opened the scoring when Daniel Garce hit a two-out single to right field to score shortstop Jace Peterson, but the team left the bases loaded to end the inning.
Bad defense led to two Bears runs in the top of the second inning. After Yakima left fielder Henry Zabala led off the inning with a double down the right field line, right fielder Justin Hilt hit a grounder to Peterson, whose throw pulled Garce off of first base. Yakima third baseman David Narodowski bunted the runners over to second and third, before Emeralds third baseman Jorge Minyety and Peterson both muffed a ground ball from Bears catcher Jae Yun Kim, allowing Zabala to score. Bears second baseman Garrett Weber then scored Hilt on a sacrifice fly to Orr in right field foul territory.
Zabala’s double was the only hit surrendered by Barbato, who went five innings, walking two, striking out one and giving up the two unearned runs.
“Barbato, especially, had some tough luck with the two errors, and to show himself, to come back after that and pitch so well,” Murphy said, “I’m happy for him.”
After loading the bases with no outs for the second consecutive inning, the Emeralds reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the second inning, with Minyety driving in catcher Jeremy Rodriguez on a fielder’s choice Minyeti beat out at first base by a step to avoid a double play. Two batters later, Orr blasted a three-run home run to left field off Bears starter Brad Wilson.
Wilson went four innings, giving up six runs on nine hits and two walks, and striking out three Emeralds batters.
Orr’s hustle led to another run in the fifth inning, after he led off with a double that fell just inside the right field line. He hustled to third on a Garce groundout before scoring on a two-out wild pitch from Bears reliever Sammy De Los Santos, who replaced Wilson after Orr’s double.
Emeralds reliever Chris Wilkes replaced Barbato in the sixth inning, but he was just as dominant against a Bears team that faced a nine-hour bus trip before the game. Wilkes threw two shutout innings, giving up a lone hit to Zabala in the seventh inning and striking out three batters. Fellow reliever Luis De La Cruz came on to pitch a perfect eighth inning, striking out one batter before giving way to Northwest League save leader Kevin Quackenbush.
Quackenbush struggled early in the inning, giving up a leadoff walk and then a bloop single before both runners advanced to second and third on a passed ball. But Quackenbush — described by Murphy as “cool as a cucumber” — responded to the pressure by striking out Zabala, Hilt and Narodowski — all on swings and misses.
“The story of the game was Barbato, Wilkes, De La Cruz and ‘Quack,’” Murphy said. “I think they only got three hits, and two of them were down the right field line.”
Emeralds second baseman Cory Spangenberg continued his streak of reaching base in every game, going 2 for 3 with two singles, two walks, a stolen base and a caught stealing.
The Emeralds and Bears will play game two of their five-game series Friday night at 7 p.m. at PK Park.