Power Pitching And Clutch Hitting Sees Ems Win Third Straight

Emeralds starting pitcher Kai-Wei Teng spun his second solid outing of the series while Jacob Gonzalez came up clutch late to guide the Eugene Emeralds (12-6) to their third straight one-run win in a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Dust Devils (5-13) on Sunday at Gesa Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a weird, wild, wacky and, at times, controversial series, heading into Sunday’s finale, and the matinee matchup in Pasco proved no different than the five games prior.

RHP Kai-Wei Teng took the ball for Dennis Pelfrey and the Emeralds for the second time of the series, making his fourth start of the season after starting the series on the bump back on Tuesday. Once again, after having a contingency of fans sporting signs written in Taiwanese in support of the Taichung, Taiwan native Teng on Tuesday, an even bigger crowd was present on Sunday afternoon as Taiwanese flags filled up the seats on the third base line creating a very unique, very fun, and very special, beautiful scene.

In a week that saw ~a lot~ of memorable moments, this is the image that will stick with us as we head back home:

A group of fans who trekked from near-and-far across Washington to see Taiwanese native Kai-Wei Teng in action 🇹🇼

Just a really cool, really beautiful thing. https://t.co/VjIi6jcZBn

— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) May 24, 2021

It was a tall task to live up to the performance he put forth last Tuesday (5.0 IP | 3 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 7 K), but Teng was up to the task, firing another solid five innings while tying his career-high in strikeouts with eleven.

The big right-hander was cruising heading into the third inning, but after striking out four straight batters, TC’s Jose Verrier opened the scoring with a solo shot off the equipment shed beyond the left field wall, giving the home side a 1-0 lead.

Teng responded in impressive-yet-unsurprising fashion, striking out the next four TC batters he faced until Francisco Del Valle doubled with one out in the fourth, and he was brought home two batters later on a Spencer Griffin single to make it 2-0 in favor of Tri-City.

Meanwhile, the Emeralds offense continued to create scoring chances but was unable to cash in, leaving the bases loaded in the second and stranding runners on the corners in the third.

The Emeralds loaded the bases again in the fifth, this time with no outs, but were only able to muster a lone run as Simon Whiteman scored on a 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of Logan Wyatt.

But despite the missed chances at the plate, the Emeralds kept creating chances until the seventh when, after a Logan Wyatt single with one out, Tyler Fitzgerald came up two batters later and mashed a two-out double to left field to put runners at second and third.

Still, though, the Emeralds would need a clutch base knock to tie or take the lead, and that’s exactly what Jacob Gonzalez delivered, battling back after falling behind 0-2 in the count to deliver a two-RBI single to left field that scored both Wyatt and Fitzgerald to put the Emeralds in front for the first time, 3-2.

As is becoming a common theme this season, once the Emeralds bullpen had a lead to work with there was no turning back, and that was indeed the case again on Sunday. Travis Perry, Solomon Bates, and Taylor Rashi combined to keep the Dust Devils bats at bay over the final four innings to seal the series with a 3-2 win, Eugene’s third consecutive win by a one-run margin.

Together, the four Emeralds pitchers that saw action on Sunday tallied seventeen strikeouts as a staff.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

• Kai-Wei Teng – RHP: Another day, another Emeralds starter shining on the mound. This time it was Teng’s turn to bask in the spotlight, and he put forth an admirable outing to end what was a very, very solid week for the Emeralds pitching staff. In his two starts in TC combined, Teng’s numbers are as follows: 10.0 IP | 6 H | 2 ER | 3 BB | 18 K. That, we’re told, is good.
• Emeralds Bullpen: This part can basically be a daily part of the recap at this point. Once again, the ‘pen shined for the Emeralds as Travis Perry, Solomon Bates, and Taylor Rashi combined for 4.0 hitless innings with six strikeouts while issuing three walks. Perry ultimately picked up the win, his second of the season, after working the sixth and seventh innings. Rashi earned the save, his first this year.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Emeralds now make the trek home to the Emerald Valley where they’ll enjoy an off day on Monday before starting a six-game series at PK Park against the Spokane Indians. The Emeralds and Indians faced off in a six-game series in Spokane to start the season with the Emeralds taking five-of-six games.

The series starts on Tuesday at 7:35pm PST with LHP Seth Corry on the mound for the Emeralds, the fifth-ranked prospect in the San Francisco Giants system per MLB.com. Tickets are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com.

If you can’t make it to the game, you can watch all of the action live on MiLB.tv, or you can listen live to all the action on 95.3FM The Score, via MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.

Information regarding tickets to Emeralds home games is available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

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