The Eugene Emeralds (2-2) fell in their home series opener 4-3 against the visiting Vancouver Canadians (3-1), who remain atop of the Northwest League North with the win. Despite making a late comeback, the Emeralds simply could not get over the final hump as they now look to even the series in game two tomorrow afternoon.
Starting for the Emeralds this evening was right-handed pitcher Jimmy Brasoban, who entered the game with a 3.16 ERA and a 2-2 record. But in five innings, Brasoban gave up two earned runs along with five hits that gave the Canadians the early lead. Facing off against Brasoban was left-handed pitcher Scott Silverstein who gave up one run and three hits in his five innings. Silverstein had the better night on the mound, which proved to be the eventual difference in the game.
The Canadians got on the board first in the top second. After a Dan Arcila steal to second with one out, Melvin Garcia drove in the first run of the game with a one RBI single down the right baseline. Following was an Ian Parmley single to center and an eventual advancement to second off a wild pitch to set-up another good scoring situation for the Canadians. Capping off the inning was Garcia once again, who came in to score off a balk to give the Canadians a 2-0 lead heading into the third inning.
In the fifth inning, the Canadians would tack on another run. Despite picking up two back-to-back outs, L.B. Danztler stepped up to the plate and blasted a solo home run to right field to extend the Canadians’ lead to three heading into the bottom fifth.
The Emeralds answered with runs of their own in the next three innings. In the bottom of the fifth it was Ronnie Richardson driving in a RBI single, while Hunter Renfroe scored off a throwing error to second in the bottom sixth. To cap off their three inning run, Richardson recorded his second RBI single of the day after brining home Felipe Blanco, who had hit a triple to right prior to the score.
But in the top eighth, the Canadians would score one final run to grab the win. With two runners on with one out, Arcila hit a one RBI single to center to give the Canadians a slim 4-3 edge in the top eighth. Despite having two runners on, the Canadians failed to bring home additional runners.
Aside from the loss, the Emeralds have seen a slight improvement on both sides of the ball in the second half portion of the season. Naturally with time and a building up of team chemistry, Manager Jim Gabella feels he has seen a definite difference in recent games and was not disappointed with the loss this evening.
“We had our chances tonight and just couldn’t get over the hump, so you got to be happy about whats going on because you’re doing a lot of good things,” Gabella said after the game. “Like I say, tomorrow’s another day.”
In regards to seeing improvement from the first half of the season, Gabella seemed to confident in his team’s progression over the course of the season.
“All the way around,” Gabella said in regards to what types of improvements he was referring to. “The pitching staff is doing a lot more stuff, (we’re) swinging the bats a lot better than we did at the beginning of the first half. The kids are working hard, they’re taking the things that we’re working on and taking them into the game, so those are positives.”
On the horizon: The Emeralds will now look to bounce back in game two of the five game series tomorrow night at PK Park. Game time is set for a usual 7:05 p.m. start.
For live tweeting during the game and news/recaps following the game, check back here at the Emerald.