The Eugene Emeralds and Everett AquaSox wrapped up their five-game series Sunday evening at PK Park, and it ended on a sour note for the Ems even though they took three games from the visiting opponents. Eugene led 3-0 after four innings and took a 4-1 lead into the seventh, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the advantage, relinquishing four runs over the final three innings resulting in a 5-4 loss. Everett shortstop Jack Reinheimer started the ninth by reaching first on an error and advancing to second when the ball was thrown out of play. Two batters later, Christian Carmichael hit a line drive to center field, driving home the eventual winning run. The usually reliable Adam Cimber was saddled with his first loss of the season (0-1).
The unraveling started in the seventh inning. Relief pitcher Michael Kelly got into trouble when he walked Chantz Mack, hit Reggie Lawson and walked James Zamarripa to load the bases with nobody out. Coby Cowgill replaced Kelly and allowed runs on back-to-back singles to right by Michael Faulkner and Bryan Brito. Reinheimer hit a soft ground ball towards second base, and confusion in the infield prevented a play from being made, scoring Zamarripa and leaving the bases loaded. Cowgill stopped the bleeding by retiring each of the next three batters to send the game to the home half in a 4-4 tie.
“Well … we walked two and hit one,” said Eugene manager Jim Gabella on the seventh inning. “You put guys on when you have a three run lead and bad things can happen, and they did.”
Everything went well for the Emeralds up until the seventh. With two runners on and one out in the second, Michael Bass lined a single to right field, allowing Malquiel Brito to score from second and give the Ems their first run of the ballgame. Marcus Davis followed with a sac fly to center, scoring Miguel Del Castillo. Brito led off the home half of the fourth with a double to left and would come around to score two batters later, courtesy of another single by Bass, who had three hits and two RBI in total for the game. The Emeralds second baseman also showcased his speed, stealing two bases. Brito and Ronnie Richardson chipped in with two hits apiece.
Starting pitcher Bryan Verbitsky left Eugene in a great position to win the game. He lasted five innings, allowing just one run on four hits, tying a season-high with eight strikeouts.
“His pitch count was up. He went deep in the count a lot and his pitch count was up, so he was done then,” said Gabella regarding the decision to replace Verbitsky. He got into trouble only once, in the third inning when the AquaSox loaded the bases with two outs, but struck out Justin Seager to end the threat and retire the side. Despite putting up excellent numbers through six starts this season (2.08 ERA, .151 opponent average), Verbitsky is still in search of his first professional win since being drafted in the third round of the MLB Draft this summer.
The loss snaps Eugene’s three-game winning streak, and they’ll look to bounce back against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in their next series.