Bad Breaks And Bounces See Spokane Even Series
A trio of Ems made their High-A West debuts on Wednesday night, a notable storyline that the Spokane Indians (7-13) seemed to care very little about as they defeated the Eugene Emeralds (13-7) for just the second time in eight contests this season, handing the Ems a 7-1 defeat at
A trio of Ems made their High-A West debuts on Wednesday night, a notable storyline that the Spokane Indians (7-13) seemed to care very little about as they defeated the Eugene Emeralds (13-7) for just the second time in eight contests this season, handing the Ems a 7-1 defeat at PK Park.
THE DETAILS:
- Winning Pitcher: Nick Bush (1-0, 1.59 ERA): 5.0 IP | 3 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 6 K
- Losing Pitcher: Aaron Phillips (0-1, 7.35 ERA): 3.2 IP | 6 H | 4 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 3 K
- Save: N/A
- HR(s): N/A
- Box Score: Click Here
HOW IT HAPPENED: Looking to keep pace atop the High-A West with the Everett AquaSox who also entered the day with a 13-6 record, the Emeralds trotted out recent addition RHP Aaron Phillips who took the bump at PK Park in what was his first appearance of the 2021 season.
Right out of the gate, though, Phillips was force-fed some unfortunate breaks and bad bounces, beginning with a fly ball from the Spokane leadoff man Jack Blomgren that was lost in the sun, found its way to the PK Park turf, and ultimately resulted in a leadoff triple to start the game.
Blomgren was brought into score one batter later on an Aaron Schunk RBI single, and Schunk came through again two innings later with a 2-RBI single that stretched the Spokane lead to 3-0.
Eugene cut it back to a two-run game in the bottom half of the third when Ismael Munguia notched his team-leading thirteenth RBI of the season on a groundout that scored Robert Emery – who, like Phillips, was also making his Emeralds debut – but Spokane responded in the top of the fourth with a run of their own to regain the three-run advantage.
The Indians went on to add a single run in three more frames – the fifth, the sixth, and the ninth – while holding the Emeralds bats at bay, ultimately notching a 7-1 win over the Ems in the second game of a six-game set at PK Park.
PEAK PERFORMERS:
- Patrick Bailey – C: It may have been a relatively quiet night at the plate for Bailey (1-for-4), but he certainly made an impact behind the plate, catching four-of-five would-be Spokane base stealers. After tonight’s performance, Bailey is now tied for the MiLB lead in runners caught stealing with 11 (Israel Pineda – Wilmington Blue Rocks).
It was not wise to try and run on No. 6 @SFGiants prospect Patrick Bailey of the @EugeneEmeralds tonight. pic.twitter.com/Oew8J7qEmJ
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 27, 2021
- Robert Emery – DH: Emery, also a catcher by trade, made his Emeralds debut in the DH spot after getting the call up from Low-A San Jose last week, and the long wait for playing time sure proved worthwhile for the San Francisco native. The University of San Francisco product accounted for half of the Emeralds offense on the evening, tallying two hits – both doubles – while also scoring the lone run and drawing a walk for good measure. Emery reached base in all three plate appearances Wednesday night and now currently leads the High-A West with a 1.000 on-base percentage (minimum of 2 ABs).
Tough one for us so far with the Emeralds trailing 6-1 in the 7th, but shoutout to our guy @RobertEmery_44 making his Emeralds debut tonight.
— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) May 27, 2021
Here's the first of 𝓽𝔀𝓸 doubles for the San Francisco native so far tonight. #GoEms x #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/P4TrQOGvQ1
- John Timmins – RHP: The towering Timmins may not have posted the final line that he’d like (1.1 IP | 1 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 3 BB | 1 K) but simply seeing the 6’6 right-hander back on the mound was, well, wonderful. Timmins’ appearance out of the ‘pen on Wednesday night marked the first time since September 2, 2018 that he had pitched in a professional game after undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing all of the 2019 season.
For the first time since September 2, 2018, @ItsJustTimmins is taking the mound in an @MiLB game.
— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) May 27, 2021
Just... awesome. #GoEms x #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/2uv2cSqBoU
WHAT’S NEXT: The Ems and Indians face off again on Thursday at 7:35pm PST at PK Park. Tickets are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com
You can watch the action live via MiLB.tv or you can listen live to all the action on 95.3FM The Score, via MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.
Information regarding tickets to Emeralds home games is available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.
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