Try as they might, the Eugene Emeralds still haven’t lost two games in a row this season.
Despite surrendering four unearned runs in the third inning and falling behind the Yakima Bears 5-1, the Emeralds battled back with four unearned runs of their own in the fifth inning and took a 7-6 victory Saturday night at PK Park.
The first words out of first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy succinctly — and sarcastically — described his team’s victory. “That’s a thing of beauty, right there. That is a work of art.”
Capping that fifth-inning rally was first baseman Zach Kometani’s two-run home run to give the Emeralds a 7-5 lead. The only Emerald with more than one hit, Kometani went 2 for 4 with a single, a home run, two runs scored and two batted in.
The Bears opened the scoring in the second inning as Emeralds starter Juan Herrera walked two consecutive batters with one out before a wild pitch to Yakima catcher Steven Rodriguez put the runners at second and third. Rodriguez then hit a grounder toward Emeralds second baseman Cory Spangenberg, who made a diving stop to rob Rodriguez of a base hit. However, Rodriguez did drive in a single runner, Bears shortstop David Narodowski.
The Emeralds countered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. After the bases were loaded with nobody out, Eugene catcher Jeremy Rodriguez was hit by a pitch from Bears starter Adam Kudryk to force in right fielder Lee Orr from third base. Emeralds third baseman Jorge Minyety lined the next pitch to left field, scoring center fielder Kyle Gaedele and Kometani.
The Bears scored four runs in the third inning with two outs with plenty of help from the Emeralds’ defense. Yakima left fielder Zachary Jones hit a popup between Jeremy Rodriguez and Kometani that fell to the ground less than halfway to first base, giving Jones a double. Yakima first baseman Jimmy Comerota then hit a line drive to Minyety, who booted the ball and then threw wide of first base for an error. Designated hitter Henry Zabala then hit a ground ball to Spangenberg, who threw to Emeralds shortstop Jace Peterson, who dropped the ball as he was covering second base, allowing Jones to score.
Narodowski drew a walk from Herrera to load the bases before third baseman Garrett Weber seemed to have struck out on a foul tip before the ball was dropped by Jeremy Rodriguez, granting Weber a reprieve. He took advantage by lacing a bases-clearing triple off the left-center-field wall, giving the Bears a 5-3 lead.
“We just were horrific again — we didn’t wait and spread out the four missed plays; we did them in a row,” Murphy said. “The beauty of our club is, we do them in a row. We don’t wait and spread them out; we let the fans enjoy them all in one inning.”
Herrera went three innings, giving up five runs (one earned) and two hits, striking out two and walking four. Herrera threw first-pitch strikes to only six of 17 batters faced.
“He didn’t have very good command of his off-speed stuff and he walked four guys in three innings, but his numbers should have been better with that,” Murphy said.
In the bottom of the third inning, Spangenberg walked, extending his streak of reaching base in every game of the season. The Northwest League’s leader in on-base percentage went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in the game.
Bears second baseman and former Oregon player Danny Pulfer teamed up with Narodowski to turn an immaculate double play in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Emeralds designated hitter Daniel Garce led off the inning with a single to center field, Jeremy Rodriguez hit a swift ground ball to Pulfer’s right. He dove, snagged the ball, flipped the ball with his glove to Narodowski, who barehanded the ball and threw out Rodriguez at first base.
The Emeralds took the lead back again in the fifth inning, getting to Kudryk for four unearned runs. Peterson led off the inning with a walk and was balked over to second base as left fielder Mykal Stokes attempted to sacrifice him to second base. Stokes again attempted a sacrifice, but a throwing error from Kudryk allowed him to reach base.
Stokes then stole second base to take the Emeralds out of a double-play situation. This proved fortuitous when Orr hit a ground ball to Weber at third base, which normally would have been a certain double play. Instead, it was an RBI groundout that scored Peterson. Gaedele then hit a single to right field to bring Stokes home, before Kometani launched the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-field wall to give the Emeralds a 7-5 lead.
Kudryk went five innings, giving up seven runs (three earned), giving up five hits and four walks and registering four strikeouts.
The win went to Emeralds reliever Cody Hebner, the San Diego Padres’ fourth-round draft pick in the 2011 draft, who was making his debut with the team. Hebner threw two scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk and getting three swinging strikeouts.
“We made a couple miscues on defense, but our pitchers battled all night and I think that’s what got us the win,” Gaedele said.
The Bears got a run back in the top of the sixth off Emeralds reliever Simon Berroa, who has given up at least a run in each of his last three outings. Bears second baseman Pulfer hit a sacrifice fly to left field with one out to score Bears right fielder Justin Hilt. As the throw from Stokes came to the plate, Jeremy Rodriguez cut it off and threw the ball to Minyety at third base to cut down Bears center fielder Westley Moss, who was trying to advance from second base.
Berroa had issues in the seventh inning as well, putting runners on first and third with two outs before reliever Jeremy Gigliotti came into the game and struck out Weber to end the inning. Gigliotti then pitched two more perfect frames, striking out two more Bears batters and earning his first save of the season.
The Emeralds and Bears play the fourth game of their five-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at PK Park.