The Eugene Emeralds came storming out of the gate at the very beginning and held control the rest of the way, defeating the Hillsboro Hops 8-1. When the Hops scored a counter run, the Emeralds answered back with three more to keep the lead out of reach.

The Emeralds scored two runs to open the game. Robert Garcia led off the inning with a walk and stole second base. Garcia scored on Matt Rose’s double to left. Rose came home on Jose Paniagua’s line drive to center to give Eugene the early 2-0 lead.

The Hops didn’t answer back until the bottom of the third. Matt McPhearson walked and moved to second on Billy Endris’ bunt single. Next, the quick McPhearson stole third which would be one of his three steals on the night. Matt came home easily on Justin Chigbogu’s line drive single to right, cutting the Emerald’s lead in half, 2-1.

Eugene didn’t wait long to make a statement. Wladimir Galindo’s smacked a line drive single to center and moved to second on Tyler Payne’s grounder up the middle. Yeiler Peguerro hit a sharp line drive to right and both runners scored. Peguerro made it to third as right fielder Matt Railey had trouble getting a handle on the ball. Peguerro came home on a wild pitch by Hops starter Anfernee Benitiz. Just that quickly, a one run deficit grew to a 5-1 steep climb for Hillsboro.

Eugene would add another run in the seventh when Robert Garcia walked and stole second base. Garcia scored on a hard hit single to center by Jose Paniagua. For safe measure, the Emeralds added two more runs in the ninth. Robert Garcia scored his third run of the night when he gained first on an infield single and scored around the horn with Andruw Monasterio’s triple to right field. Final score of the night: Emeralds 8, Hops 1.

For the Hops, Matt McPhearson went 1 for 3 and scored the lone Hops run. Justin Chigbogu drove him home for the Hops lone RBI. McPhearson also stole three bases on the night running his total up to four for the season.

The Emeralds were led by Robert Garcia who had three steals on the night and went 1 for 3, scoring three of the Emeralds’ runs. Matt Rose and Jose Paniagua shared most of the power behind Garcia going 1 for 5 with a double and 2 for 5 respectively, both grabbing 2 RBI each and responsible for driving in half of the runs scored by Eugene on the night. Tyler Payne was near perfect at the plate going 3 for 4 and scoring a run. Andruw Monasterios went 2 for 5 with a triple, scored a run and had an RBI.

Pedro Silverio (1-0) started for Eugene, going five innings for the win. Silverio allowed one run on three hits. He walked four and struck out two. Alex Santana, Jared Cheek and Tommy Nance combined to hold the Hops scoreless with only two hits.

Hops’ Anfernee Benitez (1-1) went four innings in his second start for the loss. Benitez allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits,striking out 5. Tucker Ward and Julio Perez combined for two scoreless innings. Jose Martinez allowed one run in two innings. Jordan Watson allowed two runs on two hits in the ninth.

The Hillsboro Hops (2-4) continue to be tied with the Boise Hawks (2-4) now two games behind the leaders while the Eugene Emeralds (4-2) remain in a tie with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (4-2) at the top in this early part of the season. Eugene wins the three game series 2-1.

Hillsboro travels to Vancouver to meet the Canadians tomorrow night for the start of a five game road trip. The Canadians are currently in a North Division four-way tie top to bottom. Eugene will go home for a five game homestand with the Spokane Indians who are also in a four way tie in the North Division.

Boxscore

By Greg Stoker
@GDStoker