The Eugene Emeralds were in dire need of a clutch hit against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. After falling in 14-innings 5-4 the night before, Emeralds left fielder Marcus Davis — who hadn’t gotten a hit all evening — stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and the game tied at one.
“It was the right guy in the right spot,” Eugene manager Rob Wine said following the game.
Davis didn’t get the big hit, however his walk-off walk against Volcanoes reliever Steven Neff gave Eugene a 2-1 victory — breaking the Volcanoes’ 14 game-winning streak against the Emeralds.
“I found out about that today, so it was two in my book,” Wine, in his first year as Eugene’s manager, said about the losing streak. “It was nice, especially in the way that we did it. It’s good for the guys.”
For the second game in a row, Salem-Keizer got on the scoreboard first.
To lead off the top of the third inning, Volcanoes third baseman Will Callaway hit a sinking line drive to center field off of Emeralds’ starting pitcher Adrian De Horta. Eugene’s Yale Rosen — who was playing his first game in center — raced in and dove for the line drive, however the ball landed way in front of Rosen’s diving effort and it skipped to the wall in center field. Callaway raced around the bases and scored for an inside-the-park home run to give the Volcanoes a 1-0 lead.
“That’s on me,” Wine said about Rosen playing in center field, “but that’s what we wanted him to do tonight.”
Volcanoes starting pitcher Andrew Leenhouts entered the game with a 4.76 ERA, but had complete control of the Eugene lineup for the first five innings. In that span, Leenhouts had a perfect game and recorded seven strikeouts. He finished his evening with 11 strikeouts and just two hits.
“Everything you’d tell a pitcher you want him to do, he did it,” Wine said.
Leenhouts’ bid for a perfect game was snapped in the bottom of the sixth.
With the wind blowing out to right field, Eugene first baseman Trae Santos launched a deep foul ball that cleared the fence in right. Two pitches later, Santos kept the ball in fair territory, hitting a home run to right-center field to tie the game at one.
While Leenhouts was dominant for the Volcanoes, the Eugene pitching staff matched him stride-for-stride. Emeralds’ starting pitcher Adrian De Horta and relievers Wilson Santos, Chris Huffman and Max beatty allowed just four hits on the evening, giving the Emeralds offense a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
“What they’re doing currently is very impressive,” Wine said about his pitching staff.
After avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Volcanoes tonight, the Emeralds will now welcome the Spokane Indians for a six game home stand — a double-header between the Indians and Emeralds will be played on Monday. Getting the victory and tonight and entering the long series with the Indians on a high note was a necessity for Eugene.
“We’ve been working on a lot,” Davis said after the game. “Just trying to put together some good at bats and sticking with the process. I think it’s starting to come around for us.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42