Ems Slam Hops 8-2 in Eugene

Will Wilson’s grand slam capped a six-run bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night at P.K. Park, and the Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 8-2 in the Ems’ home opener. Hillsboro batters struck out 17 times, one shy of the franchise high of 18 set just five days ago.

First baseman Buddy Kennedy homered off Eugene starter Seth Corry leading off the top of the second to give Hillsboro a 1-0 lead, and Hops starter Ryne Nelson threw four hitless innings to begin the game. Eugene tied it in the bottom of the fifth on three singles, chasing Nelson from the game. Blake Workman came out of the Hops’ bullpen to retire Sean Roby with the bases loaded to escape further damage.

Workman, however, gave up an unearned run in the sixth as Eugene took their first lead of the game. Logan Wyatt walked, and Diego Rincones reached base on catcher’s interference. When the next hitter, Tyler Fitzgerald, missed a bunt attempt, Hops catcher Axel Andueza picked Wyatt off second base, with Rincones taking second on the play. Fitzgerald then doubled to left to score the go-ahead run.

It was still 2-1 Eugene in the top of the eighth, when Hops second baseman D.J. Burt drew a walk against Eugene reliever Solomon Bates. Burt went to second on a wild pitch, and with two down scored on a base hit to right by Andueza. The game was tied 2-2.

Eugene, however, would rally in the bottom of the eighth against Hops reliever Joe Jones, but the damage to the Hops was mostly self-inflicted. With one out, Rincones singled to right, and Fitzgerald was beaned by a fastball from Jones (and subsequently removed for a pinch-runner). Franklyn Labour walked to load the bases, and a wild pitch brought home the go-ahead run. Ismael Mungia then hit a fly ball to deep left for a certain sacrifice fly, and the ball was dropped by Hops left fielder Leodany Perez . It was 4-2 Eugene. After Javeyan Williams was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases, Jones was replaced by Kai-Wei Lin . Lin struck out Patrick Bailey for the second out, but then gave up the game-breaking grand slam to Wilson.

R.J Dabovich flashed an excellent fastball-change combination in the top of the ninth, striking out the side in order to end the game. Eugene (6-3) remains one game behind first-pace Everett in the High-A West League, while the Hops (4-5) fall three games behind.

Game four of the six-game series—the second of four in Eugene—will be on Friday night at 7:35. The pregame show begins at 7:00 on Rip City Radio 620AM and ripcityradio.com.