Sean Roby homer came after he had already doubled home a couple of runs to give the Ems their first lead in the sixth.  More importantly, Sean Roby homer also gave his team the lead back again, this time for good.  The Eugene Emeralds take the sixth game against the Hillsboro Hops, 4-3.

Sean Roby Homer Finalizes Comeback Series Split

The win gave the Ems a 3-3 series split after they fell behind two games to none at the start.  From that point, the Ems went on a 3-1 tear to earn the split.  The two teams meet one last time before the end of the season.  The Ems currently lead the season 18 games to twelve.  The Hops will need to sweep the last series to earn a split on the season.

This final game of this series went much like the previous games.  Starting pitching on both sides locked down the scoreboard allowing very little action.  Then after the starting pitchers went home for the night and the bullpens took over, runs came out of the woodwork like mice sensing the cat went away.

But, before it got to that point, it was looking more and more like a 1-0 game that would stay that way.  The only blip was Jorge Barrosa for the Hops.  On the fourth pitch of the Hops first at bat in the first inning, Barrosa sent a solo shot over the right field fence.  Then, the pitching clamped down on any more plans to score.

Kai-Wei Teng – Strikeout King

Kai-Wei Teng started for the Emeralds and went over five innings.  He had allowed the Barrosa home run in the first inning and when he left the mound for good, the score was still 1-0.  But, he was still responsible for two runners on base that eventually scored under Jasier Herrera’s watch.  During Teng’s first five innings, he allowed one run on two hits striking out nine batters.  

Between Barrosa’s home run in the first and Cam Coursey’s walk in the third, Teng retired seven straight batters, six of them on strikeouts.  By contrast, the four batters he faced in the sixth before retiring for the night went 2 for 3 at the plate with a walk and scored two runs.

The other side of the mound was the same story but a different plot.  Instead of their starter going at least five innings for a quality start, their starter, Shumpei Yoshikawa was on a pitch limit and planned for only three innings.  That meant a bullpen day.

Shumpei Yoshikawa No Hits Ems

While Yoshikawa was on the mound, he couldn’t have done better.  He limited Ems batters to no runs on no hits.  When he walked off the mound for the final time, he had a one run lead and a no hitter going.  Austin Pope, making his Hops debut in this game, continued on where Yoshikawa left off.  The co-op no-hitter went into the fifth inning and lasted until the second batter, Ricardo Genoves, singled.  Even though Genoves was removed by a double play, the no-hitter was done for the night.

From the sixth inning onward, the bullpens for both sides took over, though Pope started in the fourth.  Pope did fine until running into trouble in the sixth..  Eight Ems went to the plate.  The six batters Pope faced in the sixth went 4 for 6 with another runner reaching base on a throwing error, including doubles by Heath Quinn and Sean Roby.  But, they didn’t keep the 3-1 lead for long.  The Hops had a turn coming in the bottom of the inning.

The Hops sent six men to the plate.  Starter Teng faced four batters before saying goodnight.  His batters went 2 for 3 with a walk.  Throw in a throwing error by catcher Genoves and the Hops tied the game at 3-3.  After that, not counting Roby’s home run in the eighth, things cooled down except for six combined walks by both teams.  Long enough for Austin Reich to grab the win when Roby homered.

Standings

The win helped the Eugene Emeralds (52-38) gain a game on Everett who lost tonight.  The Ems are within three games of first place.  Next week, the Ems host Everett.  The loss dropped the Hillsboro Hops (42-47) to nine and a half games behind Eugene.  Their next week’s foe is Spokane who now sits three games ahead of them in third place.  Within reach of the Hops… if they sweep or go 5-1.  So far this season, the best they have done is 4-2.

Box Score

By

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker