Vladimir De La Cruz shut down the Everett AquaSox’s lineup, at least for the first 4 innings. In the 5th inning was where everything went down hill for De La Cruz and the Eugene Emeralds. Everett tacked on seven runs after the 4th inning to win the series ending the game 7-2.

After shutting out the AquaSox for the first 4 innings of the ballgame, De La Cruz allowed a RBI double off the bat of Justin Seager that scored Michael Faulker to break the scoring barrier and give Everett the early 1-0 lead. Seager eventually scored on a passed ball. That wouldn’t be the last from the AquaSox in the bottom of the 5th. After giving up the early lead, Eugene manager Jim Gabella pulled De La Cruz in favor of reliever Tayron Guerrero, but Guerrero had no answer for Everett slugger Austin Wilson. Later in the inning, Wilson hit his second homer to give Everett a 4-0 lead.

Eugene responded in the top of the 7th when third baseman Fernando Perez hit a sacrifice fly to get the Ems on the board and decrease the AquaSox lead to three. Perez has been a bright spot in the Ems lineup of late, recording five RBI’s in his last two starts for the Emeralds.

In the bottom of the frame, the AquaSox added to its lead with three runs on a mixture of errors and timely hitting. The Emeralds added another run on a Donavan Tate in the top of the 8th, but the Everett lead proved to be too much for the Emeralds’ offense.

Heading into the final home stand, the Ems remain four games behind the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes for first place in the Southern division of the Northwest League. The final home stand begins on Wednesday with a game against the Hillsboro Hops. After the three game series with the Hops, the Ems welcome the division leading Volcanoes for a three game series to end the season.