Total Team Effort Sees Ems Dust Devils

Kai-Wei Teng fired his best start of the season, Will Wilson extended his hit streak to eleven games, and Carter Aldrete hammered his first homer of the season as the Eugene Emeralds (9-4) executed on all fronts in a 7-0 win over the Tri-City Dust Devils (3-10) on Tuesday evening at Gesa Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The home side was gracious to their guests right out of the gate as the Dust Devils gift-wrapped the game’s first runs in the top of the first by allowing two Emeralds runs to score a muffed pop fly ball that could’ve been (and should’ve been) the inning’s final out. Instead, with the bases loaded and two outs, a Tyler Fitzgerald pop fly into shallow right field was booted off the glove of Tri-City first baseman Franklin Torres and thus allowed Logan Wyatt and Sean Roby to score and put the Ems in the driver’s seat early, 2-0.

Turns out that’s all the Emeralds offense would need as the Eugene pitching staff, led by starter Kai-Wei Teng, was exceptional on the mound combining to post the team’s first shutout of the season while striking out fourteen batters in the process.

Teng bounced back well after a rough last outing in Hillsboro, firing 5.0 scoreless innings with a season-high seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one walk on Tuesday night against TC.

The Taiwan native – who had a contingency of fans in the stands sporting a Taiwan flag and signs in support of Teng – gave way to Bryce Tucker, Travis Perry, Ryan Walker, and RJ Dabovich who together combined to allow just two hits and two walks while striking out seven batters over the game’s final four innings.

Gotta share this cool moment with you.

Here we are, on the road in Eastern Washington, and Kai-Wei Teng has a section of fans sporting the Taiwanese flag and signs in support.

Just really, really cool. #GoEms x #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/YRS3tPbIAo

— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) May 19, 2021

Those five Emeralds pitchers may have not needed any extra run support down the stretch, but the Emeralds offense decided to give them some anyways.

Eugene made it 3-0 in the seventh after a pair of two out singles by Wyatt and Roby. After Wyatt singled and advanced to second base on a pickoff throwing error from Tri-City pitcher Cristopher Molina, Roby promptly made the Dust Devils pay with a single to left that scored Wyatt and extend the Emeralds’ lead.

One inning later, Carter Aldrete teed off to make it 5-0 by sending a ball approximately 405 feet into the air and 405 feet over the left-center field wall, a towering two-run tater for his first four-bagger of the season to push the Eugene lead to 5-0.

Just for good measure, Patrick Bailey got in on the fun in the ninth as he smacked a double the opposite way to left-center field to score Fitzgerald and Franklin Labour and cap the scoring in a 7-0 Emeralds victory.

PEAK PERFORMERS:

• Kai-Wei Teng – RHP: Not much more can be said about the right-handers’ start, but we’ll say some more anyways. The 18th ranked prospect in the San Francisco Giants system per MLB.com seemed to find some of his true form on Tuesday, locking in his control and leaning on his vast array of pitches to bewilder the Dust Devils lineup all throughout his outing.

• Will Wilson – SS: Yes, we know. Will Wilson is, like, always in this part of the recap. But what do you want us to do? You want us to not write about his hit streak, which he extended to eleven? Or how he reached base in three of six plate appearances, a mark which actually didn’t improve his on-base percentage? (He had a .500 OBP entering the day). Sorry, we guess.

• Ryan Walker – RHP: Walker only pitched one inning in relief, and he was only one of five Emeralds pitchers who combined to shutout the Dust Devils, but Walker looked particularly nasty in his inning of work, striking out all three batters faced and did so by absolutely bewildering and frustrating Tri-City batters in the process.

• Diego Rincones – OF: Quietly, the Emeralds outfielder has continued to be one of the most impressive offensive players in the league. The Venezuelan posted a game-high three hits on Tuesday and now boasts an average of .381, good for third in the High-A West.

WHAT’S NEXT: Eugene will face off against the Tri-City Dust Devils again on Wednesday night at 6:35pm PST at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, WA. You can listen live to all the action on 95.3FM The Score, via MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.

The Emeralds return home the following week when they will start a six-game series against the Spokane Indians on May 25. Information regarding tickets to Emeralds home games is available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

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