Ems Win 6th in a Row, defeat Hops 5-2

An overturned call on a foul ball lead to three runs and propelled the Eugene Emeralds to a 5-2 victory Tuesday night over the Hillsboro Hops in front 2,493 at PK Park.

Javier Assad (1-2, 2.45 ERA) started for the Emeralds (8-5) and ran into trouble early. After striking out Billy Enders to start the game, Camden Duzenack hit a ground ball to shortstop Aramis Adaman who made the play and threw the ball to first baseman Gustavo Polanco.
Polanco couldn't handle the throw, however, allowing Duzenack to reach safely. After a Eudy Ramos single moved Duzenack to third, Bryan Araiza hit a ball to left field deep enough to score the first run of the game.
Assad would get a ground out to end the inning and turned a corner on the mound after that. He went five innings, scattering six hits and giving up just the one run. He also struck out a career high nine batters without giving up a walk.
The Ems had trouble early in the game trying to figure out Hops (6-7) starter Jhoan Duran (1-1, 4.26 ERA) until two outs in the third inning. After a Jose Gonzalez lineout to center field, Tyler Payne singled back through the middle. A past ball and ground out moved Payne over to third for Aramis Ademan.
Ademan swung at a ball in the dirt and it appeared that the inning was over, but Manager Jésus Feliciano argued with the home plate umpire that Ademan had fouled the ball off his bat. After a brief discussion, the umpire called both teams back on to the field to resume the inning.
On the first pitch Ademan saw after coming back out, Ademan smacked a 2-run homer to give the Ems a 2-1 lead. Back-to-back singles by Miguel Amaya and Gustavo Polanco and back-to-back walks to Joe Martarano and Jhonny Bethencourt brought in another run and sent Duran to the showers.
Duran would finish with 2.2 innings with six hits and three runs given up along with the two walks and just one strikeout. Duran was relieved Luis Castillo who ended the inning with a strike out. 
The Ems were far from done scoring, however, as in the bottom of the fifth Amaya led off the inning by crushing a ball over the left field wall, making the game 4-1. They would add one more run in the sixth when Rafael Narea singled to score Gonzalez.
Assad was relieved after the fifth by Manuel Rodriguez, who pitched two innings giving up just one run and three strikeouts. Mark Malave and Junior Marte went the next two innings, with a lone hitch coming in the ninth off Marte.
A hit batter and wild pitch scored Tra'mayne Holmes with 2 outs before Marte settled and got pinch hitter Yan Sanchez to strike out swinging.
Game three of the series will be Wednesday night at PK Park, with first pitch starting at 7:05 PM. Tickets are available at the box office and on emeraldsbaseball.com.