Paulino throws gem in Emeralds' clincher

The Class A Short Season Eugene Emeralds not only silenced their opponent Wednesday night -- they also silenced their manager.

"I have no words to describe this moment for the team and for the coaching staff and the front office, who have been awesome," skipper Jesus Feliciano said. "And the Cubs -- we all focus on the development of these players, and they do a great job."

Jose Paulino allowed two hits and one walk while striking out seven over seven innings as Eugene blanked visiting Hillsboro, 4-0, to clinch the Northwest League South Division first-half title.

"He's great," Feliciano said of the 21-year-old left-hander. "We had a tough loss last night. We walked 17 guys in a game, so that tells you our pitching wasn't the way it has been all year. But then we have Jose Paulino tonight. He was on cruise control going through those innings, and he gave us a chance to score."

Paulino's 0.51 ERA is by far the best in the circuit, and he was so overpowering in his first six starts for the Emeralds this year that Feliciano announced before a postgame celebration that the Dominican Republic native is heading up to the Class A Midwest League.

"He's about to go to South Bend. He's been outstanding," the manager said. "He's been working hard, preparing himself for every outing. He deserves it."

Eugene's staff leads the Northwest League with a 3.33 ERA, and while the Emeralds are hitting only .239 as a team, they've found ways to score when they've needed to.

"We put a lot of pressure on the defense, always running," Feliciano said. "One of the greatest things about this team is the way we're always running the bases."

Leadoff man and left fielder Robert Garcia has paced the team with a .296 average, and he was a sparkplug with a third-inning homer in the clincher.

Even though his team became the first in the league to clinch a playoff spot, the manager won't let up now.

"We're going to continue to play hard. We still have five games left in the first half. We're going to continue to develop these players," Feliciano said. "They've been awesome, and we have to keep working to develop these guys. That's our job as a coaching staff, and as an organization -- to get them out of here. We want them to succeed like this, but we want them to develop too."