Spokane Earns Win In Second Straight Pitcher's Duel At PK Park

The Eugene Emeralds (4-5, 20-27) saw their offense sputter on Wednesday evening, falling to the Spokane Indians (5-4, 27-20) by a final score of 3-1 at PK Park.

After the Emeralds opened the scoring in the first inning on Tuesday, the Indians returned the favor twenty-four hours later. With runners on the corners and no outs to start the game, Blaine Crim bounced a grounder to second base that provided Kenen Irizarry plenty of time to score from third, giving Spokane a 1-0 lead.
One inning later, Obie Ricumstrict led off the second by smacking the first pitch he saw over the left field fence, his fifth home run of the season to double the visitor's lead.
Eugene responded in the bottom half of the frame, almost tying the game with one swing of the bat. With Grayson Byrd on first after drawing a leadoff walk, newcomer Alexander Guerra sent a soaring fly ball to left field, just clearing the outstretched glove of left fielder Kellen Strahm while simultaneously just missing out on clearing the PK Park fence. Still, Guerra's towering double to left field provided Byrd just enough time to race all the way around from first to score, cutting Spokane's lead to 2-1.  
The 2-1 score held for five innings until Spokane regained their two-run advantage in the seventh. With David Garcia on third and two outs on the PK Park scoreboard, cleanup hitter Luis Asencion delivered a soft single to right field, scoring Garcia to make it 3-1.
That was all that either offense could muster on the evening as the Indians closed the door the rest of the way to seal a 3-1 win.
Wednesday's game was the first that Chris Kachmar pitched in as an Emerald where he didn't record a win. The right-hander out of Lipscomb was 4-0 in four relief appearances entering Thursday. He tossed 2.0 scoreless innings with two hits and two walks allowed as well as four strikeouts.
Two other Emeralds made their PK Park debuts on the mound Wednesday night. Right-hander Matteo Bocchi threw 3.0 scoreless innings with two hits and two walks allowed along with three strikeouts. After Bocchi departed, Jake Reindl entered and tossed 2.0 innings allowing two hits, one earned run and one walk with two strikeouts.
The Emeralds will aim to salvage a series split on Thursday afternoon when they conclude the four-game series against the Spokane Indians at 7:05pm PST at PK Park. Thursday is We Are The Champions Night as well as $3 Thursday.
You can find the full promotional schedule for the 2019 Eugene Emeralds season by visiting www.EmeraldsBaseball.com. 
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