With just a few weeks remaining in a tight division race, the Eugene Emeralds can’t afford to be losing games that they could’ve won.
They did exactly that on Thursday.
Multiple self-inflicted wounds and a few blown opportunities allowed the Hillsboro Hops to escape Ron Tonkin field with the 6-5 win.
The Emeralds’ ace, Ryan Murphy, was supposed to get the start on Thursday, but he was pulled last minute for unknown reasons. Instead, John Russell, the Emeralds’ long man out of the bullpen, got the rock.
Eugene put pressure on Hillsboro starter Kyle Backhus early and often. They put runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames, but the Emeralds couldn’t find the big hit to put them ahead.
Russell cruised through the first two innings as he usually does, until the Hops tagged him in the third. A single, a walk and a double steal gave Hillsboro two runners in scoring position with just one out when Ronny Simon clutched up with a two-run single to right.
Russell allowed just the two runs through five innings of impressive work. Despite being the emergency starter, Russell put Eugene in a great position to win on Thursday.
The Emeralds responded in a big way in the fourth. Back-to-back hits by Robert Emery and Kwan Adkins set up a pair of “ducks on the pond” for Ismael Munguia, who knocked both of them in with a base hit of his own.
A fourth consecutive hit from Brett Auerbach and a walk gave the Emeralds the bases loaded with just one out and yielded a Hops pitching change. Sean Roby kept the line moving, however, with a two-run single to left field to give the Emeralds a 4-2 lead.
With runners now on first and second and just one out, the Emeralds had a perfect chance to pour it on. The next two batters would ground out however to end the rally abruptly, which would come back to bite the Emeralds later.
Jasier Herrera got the call after Russell, but he didn’t fare as well as his predecessor.
Herrera got his first batter to pop out and his second batter to ground right back to the mound: a promising start until Herrera overthrew the throw to first. This would foreshadow a rough night to come for the Emerald righty.
A walk and a double to the next two batters put the Hops within a run of the lead. With a runner on third, A.J. Vukovich did his job by sending a ground ball to first to score another Hop run to tie the game at four.
The next inning wasn’t any better for Herrera. Back-to-back singles and another Hops double steal immediately gave them runners in scoring position again. Leodany Perez stepped up next and blooped a ball perfectly between the Emeralds’ middle infielders and center fielder to give the Hops a 6-4 lead.
The Hops’ four stolen bases on the day could easily be considered the difference of the game. Auerbach was able to catch two runners stealing, but the Emerald pitching staff still needs to be held accountable.
Jairo Pomares launched a solo home run to right to cut the lead in half in the eighth, but the Hops bullpen was able to shut the door on the Emerald offense for the rest of the night to clinch the 6-5 victory.
The Emeralds out-hit the Hops 10-8, but the combination of four Hops stolen bases and two Eugene errors tormented the Emeralds’ chances drastically.
With the win, the Hops (47-57) have now taken a 2-1 series lead over the Emeralds (59-47). Eugene is now a half game behind the Spokane Indians and Everett AquaSox for first place.
The two teams will line it up and do it again Friday night at 7:05 p.m. in Hillsboro.
