The Eugene Emeralds lost 7-6 to the Tri-City Dust Devils on Thursday at Gesa Stadium. The Emeralds took a 6-4 lead in the 11th, and were a strike away from winning, but a soft pop-up fell for a single and two runs scored as the Dust Devils won in walk-off fashion. The loss was the second in a row for Eugene as it fell behind 2-1 in its six-game series against Tri-City.
Coming off a dominant five-inning performance at PK Park against the Hillsboro Hops, Nick Morreale took the rubber for Eugene. Tri-City wasted no time, rallying for two runs off him in the first inning, helped out by an error, a walk and a double steal.
The first two Emeralds baserunners were hit batters. Tyler Fitzgerald, batting second with Patrick Bailey getting the night off, walked in the third, but Ismael Munguia was caught stealing to end the inning.
The Dust Devils put runners on the corners with one out in the third, but Morreale struck out back-to-back batters to hold the deficit at 2-0. He collected five punchouts through the first three frames.
The Emeralds’ bats struggled early for the second straight night, failing to record any hits through the first four innings.
The Dust Devils added to their lead in the fourth with an RBI single that made it 3-0. The run-scoring hit knocked Morreale out of the game after 3 2/3 innings pitched.
After the Emeralds drew back-to-back walks in the fifth, the runners advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. A run came home on a passed ball, as Eugene got on the board without recording a hit.
Munguia promptly followed with the Emeralds’ first hit, driving in another run with a single as they cut the deficit to 3-2. Diego Rincones hit his fourth home run of the season in the sixth to tie the game at three apiece.
Jasier Herrera provided 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for Eugene, but Tri-City retook the lead in the seventh. After winning a 10-pitch battle with a strikeout, Ryan Walker allowed a solo homer that made it 4-3.
Franklin Labour and Brandon Martorano drew back-to-back walks to start the ninth for Eugene. Carter Aldrete successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position, and with one out, the Emeralds’ usual starting first baseman Logan Wyatt stepped up to the plate to pinch hit.
Wyatt was able to drive in the tying run with a groundout to second as the Emeralds refused to go down without a fight. R.J. Dabovich struck out the side in the bottom of the frame to bring free baseball to Tri-City.
Nick Avila followed suit, striking out the side himself in the 10th to send the game to an 11th inning. The Eugene pitching staff totaled 19 strikeouts through 10 innings.
The Emeralds took the lead in the 11th. After a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt, Javeyan Williams hit a two-RBI double after coming in as a defensive replacement to give them a 6-4 advantage.
Avila came out for the bottom of the 11th while it started to rain and the game neared the four-hour mark. A sacrifice fly made it a one-run game, and with the Emeralds a strike away from winning, a shallow pop-up fell into no-man’s land, allowing two runs to score. The Dust Devils walked it off, stunning the Emeralds and taking a 2-1 series lead.
Will Wilson went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, his second consecutive hitless game after hitting in his first 11. Even with the two rough games, his OPS sits at a hefty 1.098.
The Emeralds (9-6) and Dust Devils (5-10) will play Game 4 of their six-game series on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
