Ems Fall In Extras After Wild, Wacky Eleventh Inning
The game of baseball sure is a cruel, cruel mistress sometimes. For example: The Eugene Emeralds (9-6) never led until the top of the eleventh inning on Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Ems, they (we) were no longer leading when the bottom of the eleventh concluded as the Tri-City Dust
The game of baseball sure is a cruel, cruel mistress sometimes.
For example: The Eugene Emeralds (9-6) never led until the top of the eleventh inning on Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Ems, they (we) were no longer leading when the bottom of the eleventh concluded as the Tri-City Dust Devils (5-10) walked off in extras to hand Eugene a heartbreaking 7-6 loss at Gesa Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Fresh off snapping a nine-game skid the night prior, the Dust Devils bats wasted no time getting to work on Thursday, plating two runs on a 2-RBI single from Francisco Del Valle in the bottom of the first to take the game’s first lead, 2-0.
Three innings later, after Franklin Torres reached on a seeing-eye swinging bunt, Torres came into score on a Carlos Herrera single to center that extended the TC lead to three.
Meanwhile, one day removed from Emeralds LHP Seth Corry holding the Dust Devils bats hitless through four innings, Tri-City starter RHP Hector Yan rudely returned the favor, stymieing the typically potent Emeralds offense by holding them hitless through the first four frames.
However, this is baseball, a beautiful and elegant game that often makes little-to-no sense.
And so, on that note, the Emeralds plated their first run before they had notched their first hit, cutting the deficit to 3-1 when Brandon Martorano scored from third on a passed ball after previously drawing a one-out walk, moving to second when Carter Aldrete walked, and then advancing to third on a sac bunt from Simon Whiteman.
Moments later, the Emeralds finally did net their first hit, and they did it in awkward-yet-effective fashion as an Ismael Munguia squibber ricocheted off Yan before softly rolling to a stop in the infield, providing Aldrete enough daylight to score from third to make it a 3-2 game.
In the sixth, Diego Rincones tied the game with one swing of the bat, a bomb fit for nearby Richland as the Venezuelan belted his fourth four-bagger of the season to tie the game at 3-3.
TC retook the lead in the seventh when Francisco Del Valle – who did much of the heavy lifting offensively for the Dust Devils on Thursday night – turned on a Ryan Walker offering and sent it up and over the right field wall, a solo shot to make it a 4-3 game in favor of the home side.
That held until the ninth when, after Labour and Martorano drew back-to-back walks on full counts and another well-placed Aldrete bunt advanced each ninety feet, pinch hitter Logan Wyatt rolled a soft grounder to second that allowed Labour to score uncontested, tying the game at 4-4 and thereby forcing free baseball upon the less-than-thrilled crowd at Gesa Stadium.
The Ems loaded the bases with two outs in the tenth but were unable to score, but after holding the Dust Devils scoreless themselves in the home half, Eugene took their first lead of the game in the top of the eleventh thanks to defensive replacement Javeyan Williams. Williams, who had entered in the bottom of the ninth in center field, came to the plate for his first at-bat of the game in the eleventh and promptly roped a double down the right field line that scored two runs to put the Ems in the driver’s seat, 6-4.
It was up to Nick Avila in the home half to close out the improbable comeback victory for the Emeralds, but the Dust Devils decided to not be gracious hosts to their guests.
Despite at one point being down to their final strike, TC refused to wave the white flag, and after a Livian Soto sac fly scored a run to cut Eugene’s lead to 6-5, Brendon Davis hit a high pop fly into what can only be described as awkward and unideal territory in shallow left field, forcing Emeralds SS Will Wilson to attempt to make a twisting, contorting grab which he was ultimately unable to make, and that allowed runners on both third and first to score to give the Dust Devils a dramatic 7-6 walk-off win.
PEAK PERFORMERS:
Diego Rincones – OF: The Emeralds only mustered five hits on the evening and no Emerald was able to tally a multi-hit game, but Rincones’ blast sure was a memorable one as he hammered his fourth homer of the season to give him the solo lead on the team while moving into a tie for third-most homers in the league.
Javeyan Williams – OF: Talk about coming up clutch. Making his first at-bat of the series after entering as a defensive replacement in the ninth, Williams’ double down the right field line in the eleventh seemed to be the dagger at the time. That, unfortunately, did not prove to be the case, but, you know, it was still pretty great.
Brandon Martorano – C: The Emeralds backstop may not have tallied a hit on the day (0-for-2) but he worked three walks and proved pivotal both at the plate and behind it.
WHAT’S NEXT: Eugene will face off against the Tri-City Dust Devils again on Friday night at 6:35pm PST at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, WA. You can listen live to all the action on 95.3FM The Score, via MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.
The Emeralds return home the following week when they will start a six-game series against the Spokane Indians on May 25. Information regarding tickets to Emeralds home games is available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.
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