Emeralds Triumph Over Hops As Series Turns Feisty

EUGENE --- It was a tense 2-1 ballgame in the seventh inning when tempers flared and the benches and bullpens cleared following a beanball incident at P.K. Park Saturday. After the dust settled, no punches had been thrown. The Eugene Emeralds decided that revenge was best dished out with their bats.

After Jimmy Glowenke was hit in the back of the head by a Dillon Larsen pitch to open the bottom of the seventh, the Emeralds (21-16) responded with a pair of two-run homers and added a grand slam in the eighth to run away with a 10-1 win over the Hillsboro Hops (14-24).

In the top of the seventh inning, Hops leadoff batter Wilderd Patino was drilled in the back by a Ben Madison pitch, the second time in the game and fourth time in the last two days that the speedy centerfielder had been hit. Down 2-1 with the first two batters aboard in the inning, the Hops seemed poised to tie or take the lead. But righthander Nick Morreale took over for Madison. The Minneapolis native, in his third season in Eugene, threw out Channy Ortiz by a half step on a successful sacrifice bunt. With the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Morreale (3-0) struck out Ivan Melendez and retired J.J. D'Orazio on a fly out to deep center field, with Grant McCray turning his back to home plate to sprint back in position to make the catch to retire the side.

Larsen had recorded the final out of the sixth after 5 2/3 strong innings from starting lefthander Yu-Min Lin. After striking Glowenke in the back of the batting helmet, Eugene players began barking from the dugout and a few bodies began spilling onto the field. Before long, the second-year Hop from Ellensburg was returning verbal fire and things began to escalate, with Hops and Emeralds players emptying from the dugouts and bullpens as umpires and coaches from both sides struggled to keep the piece. In the end, there were no fisticuffs and the only wrestling matches were coaches and players trying to hold their own back. After several minutes with players scattered all over the field, things began to calm down. After an extended discussion with both managers and between themselves, the umpiring crew sent Larsen to the showers.

Junior Mieses came on from the bullpen and saw his second pitch rocket off the bat of Luis Toribio over the left center field fence. Three batters later, Aeverson Arteaga sent one over the wall in almost the same spot for another two-run shot. Up 6-1 in the eighth, the Ems put it out of reach when embattled Hops reliever Eric Mendez loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter (Glowenke again) before serving up a gopher ball to Grant McCray, his second homer of the series and the fifth grand slam for Eugene against the Hops in the last two seasons.

Morreale was awarded the win, with two scoreless innings of clutch relief, allowing one hit and no walks with three strikeouts. Lin (0-2) was the tough-luck loser. The Taiwanese teenager allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in the first inning, then retired 14 of the final 15 batters to face him, allowing only an infield hit to Adrian Sugastey in the fourth. Lin struck out four with one walk in his second straight outing of 5 2/3 innings.

The Hops plated their only run in the fourth inning. Eugene starting pitcher Eric Silva was literally knocked off the mound, struck in the lower leg by a sharp ground ball off the bat of S.P. Chen following a two-out walk to Josh Day. Gavin Logan greeted Eugene reliever Wilkelma Castillo with a single to right field to plate Day.

Melendez had a pair of doubles, extending his hitting streak to 13 games, two shy of the Hillsboro record shared by Steve Nyizstor and Jake McCarthy. Day singled off Morreale in the eighth inning to extend his streak to eight straight games with a hit. The second-year infielder also walked twice and has reached base 13 times in the series.

McCray, the 4th-ranked prospect in the Giants organization according to mlb.com, led the way offensively with two hits and a walk and three runs scored to go with four RBI along with outstanding defense in center. Sugastey, a 20-year-old rising prospect at the catcher position, went 2 for 3 with a walk. His 9 for 15 performance in the series has raised his batting average over .300 on the year to lead the club. Glowenke also reached base three times and scored twice.

Eugene remains in second place in the Northwest League first-half standings, percentage points behind the Spokane Indians.

The teams wrap up their series Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 12:50 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM. The Hops return home to open a six-game series against the Tri-City Dust Devils Tuesday night.