Ems Can’t Overcome Quinones’ Stellar Start

Two runs in the eighth and another in the ninth weren’t enough to complete the comeback against the C’s as the Eugene Emeralds (17-10) fell to the Vancouver Canadians (16-11) by a final of 7-5 on Thursday night at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Oregon.

THE DETAILS:

• Winning Pitcher: Luis Quinones (1-0, 1.80 ERA): 5.0 IP | 1 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 3 BB | 11 K

• Losing Pitcher: Nick Avila (1-4, 7.11 ERA): 3.0 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 2 BB | 3 K

• Save: Marcus Reyes (1): 2.0 IP | 1 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 2 BB | 3 K

• HR(s): Eugene: Logan Wyatt (1) | Vancouver: Ronny Brito (2)

HOW IT HAPPENED: Eugene plated multiple runs in the first frame of the game for the third straight game to open the series, this time thanks to a two-run tater from Logan Wyatt – his first of the season – to give the Ems an early 2-0 advantage.

For the first time this series, though, the Emeralds would not exit the first inning with the lead as the Canadians responded with two runs of their own in the home half of the first to see the two sides tied at 2-2 after one inning of play.

Vancouver took their very first lead of the series an inning later on a Tanner Kirwer triple to deep center field, just barely glancing off the glove of center fielder Javeyan Williams who was mere inches away from making a miraculous full-extension grab, but instead it found the Ron Tonkin Field turf to plate Spencer Horwitz and put the C’s in front, 3-2.

Vancouver added three more in the fourth, first on a Ronny Brito solo homer to left-center that led off the inning, then tallying two more on a two-RBI single by Tanner Morris to put the home side comfortably ahead, 6-2.

That score held until the eighth when, with runners on second and third, Simon Whiteman scalded a liner to center field that fooled Tanner Kirwer who misplayed it and ultimately saw the ball ricochet in-and-out of his glove to allow both runners to score and cut the deficit to 6-4.

The Emeralds continued to threaten in the inning, putting runners on second and third with no outs, but Vancouver reliever Marcus Reyes entered to replace an injured Hagen Danner and somehow, someway escaped from the inning without allowing any further damage, keeping the score 6-4 with one inning to play.

Vancouver responded with a run in the bottom of the eighth to stretch the lead back up to three, and while Eugene cut the deficit back to two in the top of the ninth on a Simon Whiteman fielder’s choice, that was as close as the Ems could get as the Canadians held on late for a 7-5 win.

Despite the loss, Everett also losing on Thursday night means that the Emeralds are still alone in first place. Eugene currently sits one game ahead of both Everett and Vancouver.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

• Logan Wyatt – 1B: Wyatt may have only gone 1-for-4 on the evening, but his one was a big one, tattooing a two-run homer to right field for his first homer of the season.

• Brandon Martorano – C: The Emeralds backstop has seen limited playing time so far this season, but he has continued to make the most of it, including on Thursday night. The former UNC Tar Heel went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. The triple on Thursday night was his third of the season, tying him for the High-A West lead despite having only played eleven games. For comparison’s sake, the man he is tied with, Luis Soto (TC), has played twenty-seven games.

• Tyler Schimpf – RHP: The right-hander was flat-out nasty on Tuesday night, striking out every single batter he faced over 1.2 innings of relief work.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Ems and Canadians face off again on Friday at 7:05pm PST at Ron Tonkin Field. 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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