It was a wild night for Eugene Emeralds starting pitcher Colin Rea on Tuesday, and it didn’t end well for the man who came into the game leading the Northwest League in earned run average at 0.88.
After hitting four batters and giving up two walks and five hits in three innings, he gave up an inside-the-park grand slam to Everett AquaSox catcher Larry Gonzalez, which gave Everett’s pitching staff all the support it needed en route to a 5-0 win over the Emeralds at PK Park.
The AquaSox scored all five of their runs in the third inning off Rea, whose ERA more than doubled, reaching 1.84 in the game in which he gave up more earned runs than he had in the season to that point. Everett started the scoring with a single to center field from shortstop Jetsy Extrano that drove in left fielder Jabari Blash. After Rea hit first baseman Ethan Paquette to load the bases with two outs, Gonzalez hit a fly ball along the left-field line that Emeralds left fielder Jose Dore slid toward in an attempt to catch. Instead, Dore missed the ball and hurt himself sliding into the cement wall along the line, allowing Gonzalez to record his inside-the-park grand slam. (Dore would stay in the game.) The five-run outburst was Everett’s only scoring in the game, as it only advanced one runner to second base in the game’s final six innings.
“That play in left field was a little unfortunate,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said. “He was there to catch it and ended up not catching it. He usually catches it, but that’s a four-run turnaround.”
Everett should have had another run in the top of the fifth inning, when Blash hit a towering blast to right field that was clearly a home run, but accidentally ruled a ground-rule double by first base umpire Travis Eggerts, who had ejected Murphy the night before after seeming to miss a call. Everett manager Scott Steinmann came out to argue the call and met the same fate as his counterpart did the previous night, getting an early trip to the showers.
“These young umpires are like the players,” Murphy said. “They’re trying to develop.”
The Emeralds were held scoreless by effective pitching from the AquaSox. Everett starting pitcher Cameron Hobson threw five innings of four-hit ball, with his only speed bump coming in the fifth inning, when he loaded the bases with two singles and a walk before getting Eugene shortstop Jace Peterson to ground out to second base to end the inning. Hobson struck out five Emeralds and gave up two walks in the outing.
“The first guy they had came out throwing a lot of strikes, caught us on the defensive the whole time,” said Emeralds designated hitter Justin Miller, who hit a double in the first inning and walked in the fourth inning. “We did what we could, but unfortunately we couldn’t get big hits at good times.”
Eugene also loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning, but Everett reliever Jeroen de Haas was able to strike out Emeralds first baseman Zach Kometani to end the threat.
The Emeralds were only able to register seven hits and seven walks against the AquaSox, who, despite their big inning, had only 10 hits in the game.
“The back part of the first half and the second half has been very inconsistent offensively,” Murphy said. “That’s to be expected out of young players, especially when you’re facing a team that’s fighting for the playoffs and they’re pitching well.”
The Emeralds and AquaSox wrap up their three-game series Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at PK Park.