The Eugene Emeralds are, once again, tied for first place in the High-A West.
They briefly fell a game back after losing the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, but stormed right back with a 6-4 win over the Everett AquaSox in Sunday’s series finale. The win capped a 5-2 series victory, the first time the Emeralds have beaten Everett in a series all season.
They gave up an atypically unfortunate three-run “homer” that bounced off Kwan Adkins’ glove as two outfielders collided in the top of the fourth, but made up for it with an energetic six-run rally in the bottom of the inning that ultimately proved to be enough.
Aaron Phillips took the mound looking to rebound from a brutal outing on Tuesday in which he only lasted an inning.
The first pitch he threw was hit sharply into right field for a single, but he settled down after that, striking out two batters to keep the run off the board.
Brett Auerbach, who led off the last two games he played in with a homer, led off this game with just a single. As usual, he showed his hustle, stealing second base. But with two of the Emeralds’ hottest hitters out of the lineup — Tyler Fitzgerald and Sean Roby — they stranded him on third as each team wasted a lead-off single.
The AquaSox got a runner to third in the third inning, but Phillips made a nice play on a comebacker to nab the runner out at home.
Everett collected a pair of singles in the fourth, then followed with one of the most bizarre plays you will ever see on a baseball field. On a liner to deep right-center field, center fielder Kwan Adkins and right fielder Franklin Labour ran into each other. The ball somehow bounced out of Adkins’ glove all the way over the wall for a three-run homer, even though it didn’t look to be anywhere close to a homer off the bat.
Adkins and Labour were slow to get up as the trainers attended to them, but they were able to stay in the game.
The Emeralds responded to the unfortunate three-run “homer” with a six-run rally in the bottom of the fourth. Marco Luciano led off with a walk, followed by an Armani Smith ground rule double. Jairo Pomares, who has made an immediate impact since being promoted from Low-A San Jose, singled home the Emeralds’ first run of the game.
Ricardo Genoves then hit a grounder to the third baseman, and Smith decided to have some fun on third base. He made a late break for home, causing the third baseman to pause. He teased the third baseman a bit, going back and forth before diving back into third base. He just barely dove in safely, and everyone was safe as the bases were loaded.
A wild pitch brought in a second run, and Logan Wyatt tied the game with a sacrifice fly. The AquaSox changed pitchers, but the new pitcher didn’t fare much better as he hit Labour, then gave up a three-run homer to Carter Aldrete that put the Emeralds in front, 6-3.
Phillips ended up going seven innings in one of the best outings of his season. The only blemish was the three-run homer, which obviously comes with a huge asterisk. He struck out six while only walking one.
Solomon Bates gave up a lead-off triple in the eighth, and a single cut the Emeralds’ lead to 6-4.
Chris Wright struck out the final two batters in the ninth to pick up his 12th save as an Emerald, capping off a successful series against the tough AquaSox.
It will be a two-team race for the High-A West title heading into the final four weeks of the season. The Emeralds begin a road series against the Tri-City Dust Devils on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.
