The Eugene Emeralds (8-5) won their sixth straight game Tuesday night, cruising to a 5-2 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (6-7).
The game started off well for Hillsboro with shortstop Camden Duzenack reaching first after an error by Emerald first baseman Gustavo Polanco. Duzenack would go on to score off of a sacrifice fly by Bryan Araiza.
For two innings, the score was frozen at 1-0, and the Emerald’s offense struggled to get going.
However, the Emerald’s broke the game open in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs and one runner on, shortstop Aramis Ademan crushed a home run over the right field wall, giving the Emeralds the lead.
Jhoan Duran, the starter for the Hops, never recovered. He walked the bases loaded and walked in a run before being pulled. Luis Castillo replaced him, but the pitching change wasn’t enough to turn the tide for the Hops. Emeralds DH Miguel Amaya hammered the team’s second home run of the game over the left field wall in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Emeralds would go on to score two more, while their pitching staff held the Hops to only one more run. Rookie Ems pitcher Javier Assad pitched five innings and only gave up one run to secure the win, while relievers Manuel Rodriguez, Mark Malave, and Junior Marte closed out the game.
The Emeralds will look to collect a sweep when they face the Hops for the final game of their three-game series Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @alterboy95