Seven-Run Third Too Much For Ems
The Ems opened up a five-game series North of the border on a sour note as the Canadians took Monday night's opening game by a final score of 9-2.
The C's didn't take long to get going, scoring in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. After retiring the first two batters in order, Adrian De Horta surrendered a walk to Franklin Barreto. Taking advantage of his own speed, as well as two Emeralds throwing errors, Barreto came around to score just seconds later, giving the Canadians a 1-0 lead.
Two innings later, Vancouver would blow the game open with a 7-run third inning. All nine Canadians batters reached base before a single out was recorded, highlighted by a three-run home run by catcher Michael De La Cruz. When the dust settled, a total of twelve batters came to the plate as the Canadians held a commanding 8-0 lead after three innings.
That score would hold until the seventh inning when the Ems would break up the shutout. Nick Torres, the San Diego Padres 4th round selection in the 2014 draft, sent a single up the middle that allowed Auston Bousfield to score.
One inning later, the Canadians would respond with a run of their own, once again taking advantage of a Eugene throwing error, this time by Franchy Cordero. The Ems tacked on a run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice by Nick Vilter, but it was too little, too late as Vancouver picked up the big win by a final score of 9-2.
With the win tonight, the Canadians move to within three games of the North Division's first place team, the Spokane Indians, who lost tonight to the Boise Hawks by a score of 11-6. Meanwhile, the Ems fall to six games behind South Division leader Hillsboro after the Hops picked up a 2-0 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils.
The Ems and Canadians will face off again on Tuesday night at Nat Bailey Stadium for the second of a five-game series, with the first pitch once again scheduled for 7:05pm. You can catch all the action on 95.3FM The Score, EmeraldsBaseball.com, or the MiLB First Pitch app.
For information on tickets, call (541) 342-5367, visit EmeraldsBaseball.com, or stop by the Eugene Emeralds box office at 2760 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, located next to PK Park on the North side of Autzen Stadium.