The Eugene Emeralds won just their third game in the last 11 contests, and it wouldn’t have been possible without shortstop Jace Peterson’s speed and hustle.
In the eighth inning, the supplemental first-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres reached on a throwing error from Vancouver Canadians third baseman Balbino Fuenmayor, narrowly stole second base, then scored on a shallow single by Emeralds first baseman Zach Kometani, sliding into the plate and narrowly avoiding the tag of Canadians catcher Chris Schaeffer.
“Jace Peterson quietly deserves a ton of credit for beating that ball out from third with a high throw,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said. “Another guy might not have been there that fast because the kid just got off the bag a little bit and came back down on the bag.”
After the eighth-inning run, the Emeralds (24-12) inched closer to a playoff berth Saturday night, beating the Canadians (23-13) 2-1 at PK Park. Eugene only needs to win one of its next two games or have the Canadians lose once to clinch the Northwest League West Division first-half championship and the accompanying spot in the postseason.
“It’s huge,” Kometani said of the game’s playoff implications. “If we get a win tomorrow, that’ll be big for us — we clinch it then. Hopefully, we can come out tomorrow and battle hard like we did tonight and come out with a W.”
The Emeralds were led by a dominant pitching performance by starting pitcher John Barbato, who went six innings and struck out 10 Canadians — eight on swinging strikeouts — while giving up one run on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman.
“Everything was working, just pounding the zone, trying to work on the fastball,” Barbato said. “Last couple outings, fastball wasn’t there and tonight it was there. I was mixing everything in, and it was working.”
Barbato’s six-inning performance — which Murphy called “the most dominant pitching performance we’ve had this year” — was the longest by an Emeralds starter this season, as the team generally operates with a five-inning limit for its pitchers.
“It was nice,” Barbato said. “I needed it to get my confidence up, and it just felt good.”
Murphy’s strategy behind the decision accounted for both the game itself and Barbato’s development as a pitcher.
“I felt like that was our best option. He had retired 14 in a row,” Murphy said. “You want him to go out for that last inning because you want him to feel it when he’s tired. How do you pitch when you’re tired?’”
Offensively, the Emeralds struggled to get hits, recording six hits — all singles — during the game. Murphy was proud of his team’s ability to grit out a win, but he was displeased with his team’s hitting performance overall.
Barbato looked shaky to open the game, hitting Canadians leadoff batter Jon Berti and giving up a single to Fuenmayor to put runners on at first and third with only one out. Barbato then struck out Canadians right fielder Nick Baligod and designated hitter Steve McQuail to end the inning.
The Emeralds also stranded a runner on third in the first inning, as left fielder Mykal Stokes hit a single into center field before stealing second and third base with nobody out. Peterson and right fielder Lee Orr struck out before designated hitter Jose Dore eventually hit a one-hop line drive to Berti at second base to end the inning.
The game stayed scoreless through the first four innings, as Barbato and Canadians starting pitcher Zack Breault were engaged in a pitchers’ duel. However, the Emeralds broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning as third baseman Jorge Minyety hit a seeing-eye single along the left-field line in front of Canadians left fielder Matt Newman to score Emeralds center fielder Kyle Gaedele. Minyety and Gaedele were the only Emeralds with multiple hits in the game.
The Canadians rallied with a run in the top of the sixth inning, as Newman scored on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Jon Jones. Barbato finished the inning by getting Fuenmayor to fly out to Orr, leaving the game after throwing 75 pitches.
Barbato was relieved by Chris Wilkes, who threw two innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out two Canadians.
Kometani’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth came off Canadians reliever Aleson Escalante, who left a slider hanging in the middle of the plate that Kometani put into center field.
After the Emeralds scored in the bottom of the eighth inning, closer Kevin Quackenbush came into the game to record his Northwest League-leading ninth save, striking out two batters and giving up a walk.
The Emeralds kick off a three-game series against the Everett AquaSox Sunday at 5 p.m. at PK Park. The Canadians travel to Vancouver to host the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in their own three-game series.