The Eugene Emeralds scored all but just eight runs over their first five games of the series against the Tri-City Dust Devils. Not surprisingly, they lost all five of those games.
On Sunday, however, the Emeralds offense finally broke out of their shell a little, scoring five runs. Combine this with an all-around effort from the Eugene pitching staff, and the Emeralds were able to leave Pasco, Washington with a 5-1 victory.
Getting off to a hot offensive start has been somewhat of a foreign concept for the Emeralds in this series, but Sunday was a different story.
In the second inning with the bases loaded, Carter Aldrete came in clutch with a two-run single to left field. Two batters later, with a runner on third, Ismael Munguia sent a ground ball to first base that scored another run, giving Eugene an early 3-0 advantage.
Seth Corry got the ball for the Emeralds in his first start in nearly a month. Earlier in August, Corry was put on a developmental assignment to work on his craft after a rough patch of starts on the bump.
Perhaps the time off did Corry justice because he looked sharp on Sunday. He went just two innings; and, even though he walked a pair of batters, he also struck out two and didn’t give up any hits or runs — a promising sight for any Emeralds fan.
The Eugene bats picked up right where they left off in the third. After an Armani Smith double to left field, Logan Wyatt sent a base hit back up the middle to tack on another run. The next batter, Franklin Labour, tripled to right field on a ball that came just a few feet away from being a home run. Wyatt still scored on the play and grew the Emeralds’ lead to 5-0.
Conner Nurse, a usual starter, came in in relief for Corry. Nurse has been knocked around by opponents consistently this season; but, on Sunday, in his first appearance out of the bullpen, he looked like a different pitcher.
Nurse went four impressive scoreless innings until he ran into a bit of trouble in the seventh. Kenyon Yovan led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single to center by Adrian Rondon. With that, the lead was shaved down to four.
Nurse ended up going five innings in relief while surrendering just four hits, one run and striking out seven. Even if it wasn’t a start, it was some of the best the Emeralds have seen out of Nurse this year.
Eugene’s offense cooled off significantly after the hot beginning. They recorded just three hits in the last six innings of play. But, after a disastrous last week at the plate, they were probably satisfied with the five runs.
Nick Morreale and Chris Wright pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning respectively to give the Emeralds the 5-1 victory.
As much as Eugene needed the big night offensively, the pitching was the story for the Emeralds on Sunday. Corry, Nurse, Morreale and Wright combined to give up just four hits and one run while striking out 11.
With the win, the Emeralds improve to 57-45. Unfortunately for them, the Everett AquaSox also picked up a win on Sunday, so the Emeralds didn’t gain any ground. With three weeks remaining in the season, and just two games separating the Emeralds, AquaSox and Spokane Indians, September should be fun.
The Emeralds will be back in action on Tuesday, Aug. 31 against the Hillsboro Hops. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro.
