In a rare midweek day game for the Eugene Emeralds, they took down the Hillsboro Hops by a score of 6-3 at Ron Tonkin Field. Seth Corry overcame the ugly control problems that have plagued him all season to pitch five solid innings, while Armani Smith blasted two home runs and drove in four to fuel the victory.
The first-place Emeralds have won four straight, and have won their last nine matchups against the Hops. They lead the current series 2-0.
The offense went up against Diamondbacks 2019 first-round pick Blake Walston in his High-A debut. Will Wilson started the scoring in the first with a solo homer, the first Emerald to reach 10 homers on the season. Smith then went back-to-back with a homer of his own, his second as an Emerald to make it 2-0.
Corry entered the day having only walked two in his last outing, but still with nearly a walk per inning on the season.
He started things on the wrong note, walking the first hitter he faced. The runner stole second, then stole third, and a throwing error by the catcher Ricardo Genoves allowed the Hops to scratch out a run in the bottom of the first.
Brandon Martorano, who’s posted an OPS over 1.000 in limited playing time, hit a two-out double for the Emeralds in the second. An error kept the inning alive, and Wilson drove in a run with a single to give the Emeralds a two-run lead back.
Smith then crushed one, hitting his second homer in as many at-bats, a three-run shot to break it open to 6-1. Walston was pulled, having given up six runs in 1 2/3 innings in his High-A debut. However, just two of the runs were earned.
Corry continued his season-long trend of being erratic but still tough to hit. He walked his second batter of the game in the second, but struck out the side. He walked another batter in the third, but a double play helped him navigate around that.
In the fourth, Corry once again walked a batter. Despite still recording two strikeouts in the inning, this one did come back to bite him, as the Hops stole their fifth base of the game and a single brought home a run to make it 6-2.
Corry worked around two more walks in the fifth to make it through five solid, if wild, innings. He threw more balls than strikes, yet limited the damage to just the two runs. He has now walked a ghastly 42 in 41 1/3 innings on the season.
Bryce Tucker and Jasier Herrera combined for three scoreless innings. John Russell allowed a two-out RBI single in the ninth, but still shut the door on the Emeralds’ fourth consecutive victory, 6-3.
The Emeralds (32-17), who have won their last nine matchups against the Hops (19-29), will look to keep rolling in Game 3 of the six-game series on Thursday, back at the normal start time of 7:05 p.m.
