Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
High-A Affiliate
The Official Site of the Eugene Emeralds Eugene Emeralds
Tickets
Single Game Tickets Season Memberships Mini-Plans Picnics Summit Bank Suite Level Group Tickets Birthday Parties Ticket Info MyProvenue MyTickets Login TicketSmarter - Ticket Resale Marketplace
Schedule
Schedule Options Schedule Printable Schedule Promotion Schedule
Team
Team Info Roster Front Office Sluggo PK Park Ballpark Guide: A-Z Monarcas de Eugene Team News Transactions Giants Affiliates
Stats & Scores
Scoreboard Individual stats Team stats Standings MiLB stats
Community
Ems in the Community FUN-draising Emeralds Baseball Camp Gameday Employment Sluggo's Home Run Reading Challenge Junior Ems Club Heritage Bank Community Spotlight Request a Donation
Team Store
(541) 342-5367

Emeralds Drop Second Straight In Spokane

A seven-run sixth inning for Spokane proves to be the difference on Friday night in Eastern Washington
By Alex Stimson
July 17, 2021

The Eugene Emeralds (36-27) were held to single digits on the scoreboard for the first time this series while falling to the Spokane Indians (30-34), 11-4, in the fourth game of a six-game series on Friday night Spokane, Washington. THE DETAILS: - Winning Pitcher: Will Ethridge (1-4, 7.77 ERA): 6.0

The Eugene Emeralds (36-27) were held to single digits on the scoreboard for the first time this series while falling to the Spokane Indians (30-34), 11-4, in the fourth game of a six-game series on Friday night Spokane, Washington.

THE DETAILS:

  • Winning Pitcher: Will Ethridge (1-4, 7.77 ERA): 6.0 IP | 4 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 2 BB | 3 K

  • Losing Pitcher: Nick Avila (4-6, 7.22 ERA): 5.0 IP | 8 H | 4 R | 4 ER | 1 BB | 9 K

  • Save: N/A

  • HR(s): Eugene: Genovés (1) | Spokane: Toglia (11)

HOW IT HAPPENED: Nick Avila returned to the starting rotation on Friday for the first time since June 9 after making five consecutive appearances as the first man out of the Emeralds bullpen, and Avila immediately had mixed results in his first inning of work. The right-hander out of Long Beach State recorded every out in the first via a strikeout, but he also surrendered a one-out single to Isaac Collins that was followed two batters later by an RBI double by Michael Toglia that scored Collins from first and put the Indians up first, 1-0.

It stayed a 1-0 game until the fourth when Spokane added two more, and just like the first inning it came with two outs. Leadoff singles from Brenton Doyle and Aaron Schunk, respectively, put Spokane runners at first and second, and after a Daniel Montano sac bunt that moved both runners up ninety feet and a Javier Guevara pop out in foul territory, Christopher Navarro singled to center on the first pitch of his at-bat to bring home both Doyle and Schunk to make it 3-0.

Toglia tallied his second RBI of the day an inning later, but he did it with nobody on base. The power-hitting prospect for the Rockies turned on a full count offering from Avila and sent it over the caboose bar in right field and out of Avista Stadium, his team-leading eleventh homer of the season, to make it 4-0.

Eugene leaned on the longball an inning later to cut Spokane’s deficit in half. With Armani Smith on first after a one-out single and a 1-2 count with two outs to Ricardo Genovés, the Venezuelan blasted his first homer as an Emerald, a 458-foot bomb to left that cut Eugene’s deficit in half while injecting life back into an Emeralds dugout that had lacked much offensive output to that point.

The high from Genovés’ homer was short-lived, though. Right-hander Tyler Schimpf entered out of the bullpen for Eugene in place of Avila to start the sixth, but after inducing a Daniel Montano groundout on the first pitch and a three-strike punch out of Javier Guevara for two quick outs, Christopher Navarro singled on a 1-2 count to kick off a stretch that saw seven straight Spokane batters reach base – all of which came in to score – as a Tyler Schimpf wild pitch, a Nicko Decolati two-RBI double, a Michael Toglia RBI single, and a three-run homer by Aaron Schunk all combined to see the Indians take a commanding 11-2 lead after seven innings.

Eugene got two runs back thanks to an RBI double by Armani Smith that scored Ismael Munguia and later a Ricardo Genovés infield single that scored Smith, and Eugene almost added three more on a towering blast to right by Tyler Flores that was ruled just foul – but not without some controversy – however the Ems were unable to pull any closer as Spokane won their second straight over Eugene, 11-4.

Eugene starting pitcher Nick Avila took the loss on Friday despite posting a career-high nine strikeouts, besting his previous career-high of six back on July 4 of this season.

The Emeralds have been one of High-A’s best teams in terms of producing offense with two outs having entered the evening third in the circuit in both batting average (.252) and runs (153) with two outs, but the Indians gave the Ems a dose of their own medicine Friday night by scoring ten of their eleven runs with two outs.

Despite the loss on Friday, the second place Emeralds did not lose ground in the High-A West standings after first place Everett fell, 9-8, to Tri-City.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

  • Ricardo Genovés – DH: Genovés played a part in all four of Eugene’s runs on Friday, finishing the day 2-for-4 with the two-run homer, three RBIs and a run scored.

  • Armani Smith – LF: Smith was the only other Emerald to tally a multi-hit game on Friday, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Eugene Emeralds and Spokane Indians continue their six-game series on Saturday at Avista Stadium in Spokane. First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:30pm PST.

You can listen live to all the action with Alex Stimson on the call via 95.3FM The Score, via MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.

Tickets to Emeralds home games are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

Stay up to date with the Emeralds by following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.