NWL: Eugene wins back-and-forth affair
The Tri-City Dust Devils tried putting together a late rally Sunday night, but the Eugene Emeralds were able to hold off the surge to preserve a 7-6 win in the getaway game of a five-game series.
Boomer White led the Tri-City offense, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and he represented what would have been the tying run in the bottom of the eighth, but ended up getting stranded 90 feet away from home.
A three-run fifth inning gave Eugene (21-9) a 6-4 lead that the Dust Devils (15-15) would cut into, but would never relinquish. Michael Foster delivered a clutch two-out single in the frame that drove in two runs.
Eugene made the beginning of Joey Lucchesi’s third career start a bit uncomfortable, scoring a run on two hits in the top of the first, but the Padres fourth-round draft pick navigated his way through three innings without giving up another run despite runners getting into scoring position in the second and third.
With the Everett AquaSox winning on Sunday and the Vancouver Canadians losing, the Dust Devils are now in a three-way tie for the Northwest League North division lead, with the Spokane Indians looming a game behind. Each team in the NWL has eight games remaining in the first half of the season. The first half champions in both divisions get a playoff birth and get to decide whether they want home-field advantage in the first game of the divisional playoffs or the second and third games.
Tri-City will head to Everett on Monday to begin a three-game series that has huge playoff ramifications. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and Braxton Lorenzini (RHP, 1-1, 10.80 ERA) is expected to start for the Dust Devils.
Emeralds 7, Dust Devils 6
Eugene ab | r | h | bi | Tri-City ab | r | h | bi | ||
C.Myers rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Kohlwey rf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Peguero 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Reed cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Pieters 1b | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | G.Young 1b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Galindo 3b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Ovrstreet c | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mitchell lf | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Baker ss | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Z.Short ss | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | B.White 3b | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Tidaback c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Easley 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
M.Foster dh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Burgos lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
D.Wilson cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Magee dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals 35 | 7 | 9 | 7 | Totals 36 | 6 | 8 | 6 | ||
Eugene | 100 | 230 | 100 | — | 7 |
Tri-City | 200 | 210 | 010 | — | 6 |
E—Galindo (6), Easley (8), Overstreet (3), Baker (4). LOB—Eugene 9, Tri-City 7. 2B—Myers (1), Easley (2), White (6). 3B—Kohlwey (2). SAC—Easley. SF—Tidaback. SB—Mitchell 2(8), Wilson (9), Pieters (10). CS—Pieters (1), Foster (1). PO—Pieters (By Lucchesi).
Eugene | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Silverio | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Knighton, W, 2-0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Hockin H, 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
W.Short S, 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Tri-City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Lucchesi | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Guerrero L, 2-3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
D.Lopez | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Stillman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WP—Guerrero, D. Lopez 2. HBP—. Umpires—H, Zachary Dodson; F, Codey Davis. T—3:14. A—1,764.
This story was originally published July 17, 2016 at 11:18 PM with the headline "NWL: Eugene wins back-and-forth affair."