The Eugene Emeralds entered Wednesday night in sole possession of first place for the first time since July 2.
“There is nothing like meaningful baseball games in September…. Good luck to all those Ring Chasing. #ringchasingseason,” Emeralds manager Dennis Pelfrey tweeted ahead of Wednesday’s game.
The Emeralds ended Wednesday night with another road loss under their belt, beginning the month of September with a lackluster offensive performance. They lost 7-2 to the Hillsboro Hops at Ron Tonkin Field, evaporating the momentum of Tuesday’s thrilling come-from-behind victory.
Blake Rivera started on the mound for his second appearance with Eugene. He worked through a scoreless first inning, but quickly cracked in the second.
After a one-out homer, he surrendered back-to-back singles followed by a double steal. A groundout brought in a second run, and a passed ball and another single made it 3-0 after two innings.
The Emeralds got on the board in the top of the third with back-to-back doubles from Ricardo Genoves and Logan Wyatt.
Rivera’s struggles continued in the bottom of the third, as he hit the first batter then allowed a single. Another run came home on a sacrifice fly, putting an end to Rivera’s night.
The Hops strung together three two-out hits in the fifth against Nick Avila to make it 5-1. Avila still had a mostly successful outing, giving up just that one run, three hits and no walks in three innings.
The Emeralds scratched out a run in the top of the sixth. Brett Auerbach led off with a walk, stole second base and came home on a Jairo Pomares single. Pomares has enjoyed a heap of success since his promotion from Low-A San Jose and was the hero in Tuesday night’s comeback win.
The Hops loaded the bases with a walk and a pair of singles against Solomon Bates with one out in the bottom of the eighth. A groundout and a double brought in two insurance runs for Hillsboro, making it a five-run game heading to the ninth inning.
The Emeralds showed some fight in the top of the ninth. Sean Roby led off by reaching on an error, and Marco Luciano singled to put two on with one out. Genoves worked a full count — as he seems to do so often — but he struck out.
The game came to a thundering halt, leaving the Emeralds shaking their heads, knowing they had a chance to build some ground in the standings.
They’ll look to bounce back and retake the series lead on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
