The Eugene Emeralds defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils 8-4 Saturday night at PK Park and are now tied for first with the Hillsboro Hops in the Northwest League South Division.
There was instant offense for both teams as they combined for 10 runs in the first two innings.
The Dust Devils (13-11) scored two runs in the first inning off a Tre Carter two RBI single. The Emeralds (13-11) responded with two runs of their own. Jhonny Bethencourt crushed his first home run of the season over the left field wall for the Emeralds’ first run in the inning. Aramis Ademan would score on a wild pitch by Dust Devil Dauris Valdez to tie the game at two.
Tri-City was quiet in the second while the Emeralds added four runs.
Kwang-Min Kwon singled to center to drive in Jose Gonzalez and give the Emerald’s the lead. Later in the inning, Jared Young got a two RBI single, and another run scored when Valdez threw another wild pitch that drove in Bethencourt. The Emerald’s ended the inning up 6-2.
“The way we hit and the way we ran the bases—I think we set the tone early,” manager Jesus Feliciano said. “It was fun to watch.”
The bottom of the third rolled around and the Emerald’s scored two more. Again it was Bethencourt (.314 average) making things happen. This time it was a triple that drove in two runs to give the Emeralds an 8-2 lead.
Bethencourt finished the game with an impressive 2-for-4 performance at the plate with three RBIs. He entered Saturday’s game hitting .313 with runners in scoring position.
“He’s been swinging the bat well,” Feliciano said. “He’s a guy that works real hard and I’m happy for him. Even when he gets out, he seems to know what he’s doing.”
The Emeralds’ bullpen held it together after starter Yapson Gomez was pulled after the third inning. Manuel Rodriguez earned the win with his quality relief pitching in innings four, five and six. He allowed no hits with five strikeouts.
“They all did a great job,” Feliciano said. “The extra innings game that we played earlier this week, it’s hurting us right now. After this day off on Tuesday I know we will be what we want to see from our bullpen and starters.”
Tri-City cut the lead in the eighth inning with a two-RBI single by Luis Anguizola. Emeralds relief pitcher Jhon Romero avoided more damage after he loaded the bases by getting the final two outs with an infield pop-up and a swinging strikeout.
It was a rough night for Dust Devil pitching. Four wild pitches by Valdez and two more by Dalton Erb highlighted a poor performance overall. However, Elias Torres entered in the sixth inning and only allowed one hit to calm the Emeralds offense down.
Gustavo Polanco extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the seventh inning.
The Emeralds’ next game is on Sunday against Tri-City at 1 p.m. at PK Park.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917
Emeralds beat Tri-City 8-4 in offensive explosion
Jack Butler
July 7, 2017
Kaylee Domzalski
The Eugene Emeralds defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils 8-4 Saturday night at PK Park and are now tied for first with the Hillsboro Hops in the Northwest League South Division. There was instant offense for both teams as they combined for 10 runs in the first two innings. The Dust …
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