The day after it appeared to turn a corner, the Eugene Emeralds once again looked like the team in weeks prior that struggled so mightily on offense. The Emeralds were shut out for only the third time this season in a 5-1 loss to the Boise Hawks Tuesday at PK Park.
Emeralds starting pitcher Jose Paulino conceded two early runs in the top of the first. After a wild pitch advanced Boise leadoff hitter Carlos Herrera to third base, Marcos Derkes singled in an RBI. Four batters later, Terry McClure’s single allowed Derkes to score and the Hawks held a 2-0 lead.
Paulino settled in after a rocky start. The lefty pitched six complete innings allowing no more runs and just one hit after the first inning.
“That first inning, we barely made it out alive and I thought it was going to be one of those nights,” Emeralds manager Gary Van Tol said. “(Paulino) found it, got into a rhythm and started pitching. Once he did that, he did an outstanding job.”
So too did the Hawks’ pitching staff.
Colin Welmon pitched five complete shutout innings of his own, striking out six and allowing only two hits.
The Emeralds (18-22) are still looking for consistent bats since Cubs first-rounder Ian Happ was called up to South Bend. Tuesday’s contest against the Hawks (15-25) left a great deal to be desired on offense, but there were a couple positive takeaways.
Andrew Ely, playing in just his second game as an Emerald, batted number two in the order and got two of the team’s four hits. The Cubs’ 2014 32nd round draft pick from the University of Washington already has a lot of minor league experience.
“He’s been at Triple A, Double A, Long A,” Van Tol said. “He’s a guy that can play multiple positions in the infield which is huge, especially with (Ho-young) Son and Frandy (De La Rosa) playing the majority of the games, it gives us some depth there in the middle.”
Alex Bautista hit his second home run in three days for the Emeralds after coming in for Eloy Jimenez, who left the game after “tweaking something” while swinging the bat, according to Van Tol.
“He said he was fine, but you could tell something wasn’t right,” Van Tol said. “I don’t think it’s anything serious, but we’ll definitely err on the side of caution and take a good look at it tonight.”
The Emeralds have now dropped five series in a row, dating back to a road series with Tri-Cities earlier in July.
The Emeralds travel to Spokane for a five-game series beginning Wednesday evening. They have a combined 5-13 road record this season.
“The crazy thing about it is, we’ve gone on the road and won that first game of the series,” Van Tol said. “After getting off the bus, that first one is usually the toughest one. And then we’ve lost four straight to Tri-Cities and Vancouver.”
After the series ends Monday, the Emeralds have August 3-5 off for the 2015 Northwest League All-Star game, also being played in Spokane. On Tuesday, the Northwest League announced three Emeralds will be playing in the game: Pitchers Oscar De La Cruz and Pedro Araujo, and Jimenez, as an outfielder.
Once the all-star break concludes, the Emeralds will have to get on track soon to contend for the playoffs.
“We’ll get a chance to catch our breath and then the grind will really start,” Van Tol said. “We’ll find out what we’re made of after that all-star break.”
Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner