The Eugene Emerald’s lost 8-2 to the Tri-City Dust Devils on Sunday afternoon, the fourth in a five-game series. The loss ends their four-game winning streak.
“It was a pretty smooth, fast game and everybody was hoping to get out of here early for dinner, but things happen fast,” manager Gary Van Tol said.
Ian Happ, the Cubs’ 2015 first round draft pick, hit a solo home run that landed in the bullpen, giving the Ems a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. The shot came on a fastball down and in, which was exactly what he was hoping for, he said.
Ems pitcher Andin Diaz was taken out in the middle of the sixth inning with two outs on the board. Right handed pitcher Francisco Carrillo came in and relieved through the top of the eighth.
With the score still holding at 1-0, left-handed pitcher John Williamson made his professional debut, relieving Carrillo. Tri-City immediately scored when outfielder Henry Charles hit a slow ball to second, allowing a runner on third to score. Williamson had a chance to end the inning, but the ball got away from him when he tripped on the mound.
Tri-City scored one more run and Pedro Araujo came in for Williamson midway through the eighth inning. A line drive down the left field line cleared the bases and gave Tri-City at 5-1 lead.
The Ems finally got themselves out of the eighth inning on a pop fly, but not without Tri-City scoring one more run off of an error by Adonis Paula.
In the bottom of the eighth, Happ scored on a pop fly that fell out of the outfielders glove, making the score 6-2.
Charles, Tri-City’s left-fielder, scored on an inside-the-park homerun in the bottom of the eighth with two outs on the board.
“When the wheels come off they can come off in a hurry,” Van Tol said. “There are some things we can clean up.”
Ian Happ said that tonight’s game was just baseball.
“It was tough for the team,” he said. “We had played so well up to that point, pitching had been great, defense had been great to keep us in a 1-0 game. Things didn’t go our way. A couple broken bat hits and a couple walks – that happens.”
The Ems finish their five-game series against Tri-City tomorrow at 1:05 p.m.
Follow Bayley Sandy on Twitter @BayleyJSandy