The Eugene Emeralds looked to shake off two consecutive bullpen collapses on Saturday, taking on the Spokane Indians with the series tied at two games apiece.
It was another roller coaster of a game, with the Emeralds taking two commanding leads but allowing the Indians to claw their way back each time. Umpiring was also a theme of the night, as many questionable calls were made, leading to three ejections.
Ultimately, the Emeralds persevered, ending their two-game skid with a 10-9 win and retaking the lead in the series, three games to two.
Left-hander Seth Corry came into the night with an even 50 walks in 50 innings. I wrote a bit about him and his perplexing season on Thursday.
On cue, Corry walked the first batter he faced. After a throwing error on a pickoff attempt by Corry, the runner ended up scoring to put the Indians ahead 1-0 in the first inning.
The Emeralds drew two walks of their own in the top of the second. With two outs, Nolan Dempsey doubled to left field to jolt Eugene out to a 2-1 lead. Brett Auerbach followed with an RBI single, and Tyler Fitzgerald added an RBI double to complete a four-run second inning.
But the Indians stormed right back against Corry, as a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs. Corry threw a passed ball that brought a run home, hit a batter, then threw a wild pitch that allowed another run to score. The tying run came home on a groundout, so the Emeralds went to the third inning all knotted up at three.
Sean Roby led off the third with a double, and Ricardo Genoves put the Emeralds back on top 6-4 with a two-run homer. With two outs, they kept the inning going with a single and a hit by pitch, and Auerbach broke it open with a three-run homer to extend the Emeralds’ lead to 9-4. Fitzgerald followed him with a solo homer to put salt in the Indians’ wound.
Corry threw a scoreless third and fourth, allowing just a single in each inning. But after hitting a batter and issuing his fourth walk, the inning ballooned on him. A groundout brought home a run, and a two-run homer cut the lead to 10-7, prompting Emeralds manager Dennis Pelfrey to yank Corry right there.
Corry went 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on four hits, four walks and two hit batsmen while striking out four. He’s issued 54 walks and hit 15 batters in 54 2/3 innings this year. His ERA is 5.93.
A double and a pair of walks loaded the bases for the Emeralds in the sixth. But Genoves hit into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.
A single and two walks loaded the bases against Travis Perry in the seventh, and Perry was ejected after arguing with the umpire. Austin Reich came in and induced a double play with the first out at home. A balk made it 10-8, but Reich escaped with no further damage.
Reich stayed in for the ninth, and gave up a double and a single that put runners on the corners with one out. After a strikeout for the second out, the catcher Genoves appeared to throw out the runner trying to steal second to end the game, but he was called safe. Pelfrey immediately came out to argue the call and was ejected from the game.
A walk loaded the bases, putting the winning run on first base. A run came home on a wild pitch, putting the tying run on third and the winning run at second. Reich bunkered down, recording a strikeout to cap off the 10-9 win.
Reich was ejected after getting the final out, as multiple Emeralds voiced their displeasure with the umpires’ calls not just in that inning, but throughout the game.
The Emeralds scored a double-digit amount of runs for the third time in four games this series. They’ll look to clinch the series win on Sunday at 5:09 p.m.
