The Eugene Emeralds hosted “Re-Re-Opening Day” on Tuesday, celebrating the first game with a full-capacity crowd and no COVID-19 restrictions. They even played Rihanna songs throughout the night, with the reasoning being that “Re-Re” sounds like “Riri.”
The Emeralds were also met with some big news before the game. Two of their best hitters this year, Will Wilson and Diego Rincones, were promoted to Double-A Richmond.
It was the beginning of a crucial series for Eugene: a matchup between the second-place Emeralds and the first-place Everett AquaSox. The Emeralds entered the night 1.5 games behind the AquaSox after losing three straight.
Eugene won round one by a score of 9-3. Brett Auerbach had his first big game as an Emerald, driving in six runs while homering and collecting a pair of doubles. Seth Corry also provided a solid start for Eugene, continuing his wild and fascinating yet strangely effective 2021 campaign.
Every Corry start has been an event to behold, with a high strikeout rate, a low opponent batting average and a ghastly walk rate. His outing began in true Corry fashion, as he worked around a two-out walk with a pair of strikeouts to pitch a scoreless first inning.
In the bottom of the first, Auerbach doubled and Armani Smith walked, but Sean Roby and Logan Wyatt each grounded out to strand two in scoring position. Wyatt appeared to tweak a hamstring running to first, and was subsequently replaced in the field by Carter Aldrete.
Everett starter Juan Then struck out the first two in the bottom of the second and appeared to have the inning under control. But Franklin Labour and Tyler Flores lined back-to-back singles to keep the inning alive. Ismael Munguia then smacked a first-pitch fastball into deep left-center field for a double that put the Emeralds on top 1-0.
Auerbach followed by hitting one out of sight, smashing a ball over the left field fence to extend the lead to 4-0. He entered the night just 1-for-9 as an Emerald.
Corry pitched a perfect, walk-free second inning with one strikeout. But with one out in the third, he issued back-to-back free passes.
In true Corry fashion once again, he struck out the next two to end the inning, with the last punchout coming after a 3-0 count. His enigma of a season continues to get more absurd by the inning.
Corry began the fourth by hitting his 12th batter of the season. He allowed his first hit of the game to put runners on the corners, and a sacrifice fly got the AquaSox on the board, making it a 4-1 ballgame.
With two outs in the fifth, Corry hit his 13th batter of the season. Smith then took a windy route to a fly ball in left field that fell in for a run-scoring double, cutting the Emeralds’ lead to 4-2.
Corry was pulled after five innings. He gave up two runs on two hits, three walks and two hit batsmen while striking out seven. Control-wise, it was a small step in the right direction, as he got ahead of batters more often and didn’t let innings balloon on him.
Three singles loaded the bases for the Emeralds in the sixth. Auerbach then stepped up to the plate and wacked one into the left field corner, bringing home three runs to break it open to 7-2. At the time, he’d driven in six of the seven Eugene runs.
Emeralds reliever Travis Perry gave up a leadoff double in the seventh, which came around to score on a groundout to make it 7-3. The Emeralds responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame, as Labour drove in Tyler Fitzgerald with a single to make it 8-3.
Tyler Schimpf struck out the side in order in the eighth, dominating hitters with his “hammer curve.” The Emeralds tacked on yet another run in the bottom of the inning, with Smith doubling home Munguia.
Lefty Chris Wright struck out the side in the ninth, shutting the door on the 9-3 victory. Wright has struck out an absurd 46 batters in 21 1/3 innings this year.
With the win, the Emeralds climb back within a half-game of the AquaSox for first place. The showdown between the top two teams in the High-A West will continue on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. With a win, the Emeralds could find themselves back atop the division.
