The Eugene Emeralds found themselves on the wrong side of a lopsided inning on Thursday night at PK Park as the Spokane Indians capitalized on four walks and two errors in the top of the fifth to help top the host Emeralds 11-9.
The Emeralds outhit the Indians but committed two errors and struggled to hold their 2-1 lead once starter Dylan Cease exited in the fourth. Cease finished his night by allowing three hits and one run while striking out seven in four innings of work.
After a fairly quiet first couple innings from both sides, Spokane got things started in the top of the third. A one-out double from Clay Middleton put the Indians in business. A two-out single two batters later by Chad Smith gave Spokane a 1-0 lead — a lead that they would not hold on to for long.
The bottom of the fourth finally saw the Emeralds get on the board. A leadoff single by Andruw Monasterio — the Emeralds first hit of the game — gave Eugene just it’s second base runner of the game. Next up was Kevonte Mitchell, who slapped a double to right, scoring Monasterio. Matt Rose then moved Mitchell to third with a groundout to second and a single from Chris Pieters put the Emeralds up 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Emeralds, that would be the last time they held a lead.
Cease, who had held the Indians in check for four innings, was pulled for reliever Enrique De Los Rios to start the fifth. Rios would proceed to walk his first three batters, loading the bases with no outs. Rios then recorded two outs — one on a play at home and another on a pop fly — before Seth Spivey singled in two runs to regain the lead for Spokane at 3-2.
The inning would just get worse for Eugene as Mark Malave was summoned from the bullpen to stop the damage. He proceeded to give up four straight singles, leading to four more runs for the Indians. The Emeralds defense didn’t help their pitchers much as they committed two costly errors in the innings leading to two more runs. By the time the dust had cleared, Spokane held a commanding 9-2 lead.
The Emeralds bat would not be silenced, though, as they went on to answer with three runs themselves in the bottom half of the fifth, making it a 9-5 game.
However, two more runs from Spokane in the top of the seventh put the game out of reach.
The Emeralds scored three more runs in the bottom of the eighth and sent the tying run to the plate in the ninth but could not complete the rally, eventually falling 11-9.
Monasterio lead the way offensively for Eugene, going three-for-five with two RBI’s, raising his team-high season batting average to .344.
Cease was sharp in the first several innings, but the middle relievers were what costs them the game. Rios, Malave, and M.T. Minacci combined to give up four walks, eight hits, and ten runs in their three innings of work.
Scott Frazier was the lone stable force from the bullpen, closing out the game with four strikeouts in his two innings of work.
The Emeralds fall to 4-3 on the the season but are back in action tomorrow with game two of this five game series with the Indians at PK Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.
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