Slaughter, Strong Pitching Lifts Ems To Big Win

The Eugene Emeralds (5-5, 21-27) celebrated We Are The Champions Night in style, defeating the Spokane Indians (5-5, 27-21) by a final score of 9-2 on Thursday night at PK Park.

Both sides entered the night with top-tier 2019 draftees taking the mound with Chicago Cubs fourth rounder Chris Clarke facing off against Texas Rangers third rounder Justin Slaten. However, Clarke was the only one that lived up to the billing as Slaten was unable to make it out of the first inning.
After Slaten struck out of the first two batters he faced, Hill dug in for what would be an eleven-pitch at-bat, including six foul balls, before lacing a triple down the right field line. Northwest League All-Star Jake Slaughter followed with a bloop double, finding the perfect spot in the Spokane outfield to fall between three Indians players and give the Emeralds the game's first lead. After a Zac Taylor walk in the next at-bat, Grayson Byrd belted a line drive double to center field to score both Slaughter and Taylor to extend the Ems' lead to 3-0.
Slaughter struck again two innings later with his second RBI of the game. With Martinez on third after an infield single, stolen base and a groundout from Hill, Slaughter sent a soaring fly ball to right field, plenty deep for Martinez to tag and score to make it 4-0.
Eugene's offense kept rolling two innings later in the sixth. Edmond Americaan, Pedro Martinez, and Darius Hill each led off the frame with singles to load the bases for Slaughter. The Ems' RBI leader added to his team-leading total by driving in Americaan and Martinez with a single on the first pitch he saw, stretching Eugene's lead to 6-0.
In the seventh, the Ems went to work with two outs once again. With Slaughter on first after a two-out walk, Zac Taylor blasted a triple to the wall in left-center field, scoring Slaughter from first for the Ems' seventh run of the game. Grayson Byrd immediately followed with an RBI single to left field, delivering his third RBI of the night to make it 8-0.
Eugene added one more for good measure in the eighth inning thanks to an RBI single from Pedro Martinez that scored Jacob Olson, who had delivered a pinch hit double in the prior at-bat.
Spokane spoiled the shutout in the ninth by scoring a pair of runs, but the win was already well in hand as the Ems ultimately cruised to a 9-2 win.
When the Ems weren't busy plating runs on Thursday night, the pitching staff was busy putting on a show. Starter Chris Clarke was strong yet again in a career-high 3.0 innings of work, holding the Indians scoreless and hitless while issuing zero walks and striking out five batters. In the fourth, Zach Mort entered and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings of his own, surrendering only three hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Recent addition Joe Nahas made his Emeralds debut in the ninth, surrendering the only two runs that the Indians could muster on the evening.
The Ems now prepare to welcome the Boise Hawks to town for a three-game series ahead of the NWL All-Star Break. Chicago Cubs 2019 third rounder Michael McAvene is slated to make his home debut as the Emeralds celebrate local hero and former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Lois Youngen with a bobblehead giveaway, presented by Kendall Toyota and KMTR NBC 16. The giveaway is available for the first 1,000 fans that enter through the home plate gate of PK Park.
You can find the full promotional schedule for the 2019 Eugene Emeralds season by visiting www.EmeraldsBaseball.com. 
Tickets to Emeralds home games are on sale now at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.
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