After a two-week road trip, the Eugene Emeralds returned to PK Park for “Re-Opening Day” on Tuesday. More than 2,000 fans were allowed back in the ballpark, the first 500 of which received emerald green rally towels imprinted with the words, “Baseball is back!”
They beat the Hillsboro Hops 5-1, getting back on track after losing four of five to the Everett AquaSox. Will Wilson, Sean Roby and Logan Wyatt each collected two hits, while Eugene received strong pitching from starter Conner Nurse, as well as relievers Jasier Herrera and Chris Wright.
With the stadium high on energy, the Emeralds’ offense struck first. Wilson and Roby got things going with a walk and a single, and the first run of the game came home on a passed ball. Then with two outs, Wyatt continued his season resurgence with an RBI single that brought the lead to 2-0.
The Hops got on the board with a solo homer against Nurse in the third. With a runner on first and one out, the Hillsboro baserunner thought there were two outs, and proceeded to run on a fly out that allowed the Emeralds to double him up.
Ismael Munguia and Wilson led off the bottom of the third with back-to-back singles, with Munguia reaching third on interference. The Hops’ manager emphatically argued the call, despite it being a clear case of interference. Munguia scored on a double play and the Emeralds regained a two-run lead.
Nurse was effective, going five innings while allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three. He earned his first win of the season after coming into the game with an ERA approaching six.
The Emeralds tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth. Franklin Labour walked, then stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by the catcher. Brandon Martorano, getting the start at catcher for Eugene with the struggling Patrick Bailey on the bench, drove in Labour with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
In the sixth, Roby doubled, and Wyatt struck again with an RBI single to push the lead to 5-1.
Herrera pitched three scoreless innings to hold the four-run advantage, and Wright struck out the side in order to shut the door in the ninth. Wright lowered his season ERA to 0.59, along with an otherworldly 35 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings.
With the Emeralds winning and the Vancouver Canadians losing, the Emeralds move back into second place in the High-A West. They’re still 1.5 games behind the AquaSox for first.
The Emeralds (21-15) will continue with Game 2 of the series and a belated New Years celebration on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.
