The Eugene Emeralds entered Wednesday still in a tie for first with the Everett AquaSox after both teams lost on Tuesday.
They lost again Wednesday night, falling 3-1 to the Tri-City Dust Devils at Gesa Stadium. For the second straight night, they squandered a chance to take hold of first place. The offense struggled in the loss, despite going up against the team with the worst record in the High-A West.
Before the game, the Giants released Emeralds pitcher Aaron Phillips. Phillips was coming off one of his best outings with Eugene — just goes to show how brutal the business side of baseball can be.
Sean Roby continued his hot streak with a lead-off double in the second inning, but didn’t score. Ricardo Genoves hit a lead-off double of his own in the next inning, and the Emeralds struck first as Ismael Munguia hit an RBI single in his return to the lineup.
Emeralds left-hander Jake Dahlberg struck out the side in order in the second inning, en route to retiring the first seven batters he faced. He worked around a double and a walk in the third inning to hold the 1-0 lead.
The Emeralds wasted a one-out triple from Jairo Pomares in the top of the fourth. Then in the bottom of the inning, Dahlberg surrendered a double and a two-run homer to put Tri-City on top 2-1.
Armani Smith and Roby led off the sixth with a single and a walk, respectively. But the Emeralds went down quietly once again, failing to ignite the rally they so desperately needed.
Dahlberg lasted five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six.
Nick Avila retired the first seven batters he faced in relief, six via the strikeout. He then allowed back-to-back singles in the eighth, and a run came home on a wild pitch.
The Emeralds almost got something going in the ninth, with one-out singles from Marco Luciano and Genoves. But Logan Wyatt grounded into a double play to cap a weak offensive effort from Eugene. Interestingly, Wyatt has made the last out in each of the Emeralds’ last three losses.
Now down 2-0 in the series to the last place Dust Devils, the Emeralds will look to bounce back and stay in the hunt for first place on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
