Eugene Emeralds right fielder Nick Torres has had a hectic start to his Minor League baseball career.
After signing with the San Diego Padres last week, Torres flew to Eugene before immediately hitting the road with his new club. With a month off from the game, Torres struggled in his first four games. He had two hits in his first 16 at bats.
“I was a little impatient with myself and that’s just a part of the growing process and the maturing process,” Torres said after the loss. “I have to learn that I can’t expect to have time off and make an impact right away.”
While Torres has struggled, so has the entire Emeralds team. Eugene fell to the visiting Boise Hawks by a final score of 5-3 on Friday night, marking the fifth time that the Emeralds have fallen short in the last six games.
Despite the loss, Torres was able to play in front of his new home crowd for the first time. Finally comfortable after a week of travel, Torres delivered a memorable home debut. Torres went 2-for-4 on the evening, including a home run to deep left field in the bottom of the sixth.
“It feels good to have a good night and get that first home run,” Torres said. “Hopefully everything just starts to flow from here.”
Eugene got a solid performance from starting pitcher Michael Kelly. The Emeralds right-handed pitcher threw five innings while allowing just one run on three hits.
“He threw well,” manager Rob Wine said. “I think his pitch count went up there a little bit with a little lapse of concentration. He got tough when he needed to and it was a good outing for him.”
Kelly’s lone earned run came in the top of the third.
After Hawks shortstop Giuseppe Papaccio walked and advanced to second base to start the inning, right fielder Jeffrey Baez singled past a diving attempt from third baseman Chase Jensen. With Jensen still on the ground and in the base path, Papaccio leaped over him and sprinted home before the throw could reach the plate. The score evened the game at one.
Wine elected to go with reliever Max Beatty to replace Kelly. Beatty entered the gam who has not allowed a single run in 13 innings pitched this season. Against the Hawks lineup, Beatty struggled.
In the top of the seventh, Boise designated hitter Mark Zagunis hit a two run double to left field off of Beatty to give the Hawks their first lead of the night. The next batter, First baseman Danny Canela, brought Zagunis home with a bloop single into right field to make the score 4-2.
“It was an opportunity for (Beatty) to stop the bleeding and it didn’t work out in our favor tonight,” Wine said.
Eugene got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when shortstop Franchy Cordero beat out an infield single to third base that brought home Austin Bousfield. However, the Emeralds could never put together enough base runners to mount a legitimate comeback. Only one more Emeralds batter would reach base on the evening.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Emeralds designated hitter Trea Turner stepped to the plate for what would end up being his last at bat before moving up to the Fort Wayne Tin Caps, the high-class single A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. Turner, the 13th overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft, smacked a line drive into left field to close this stint with the Emeralds. Despite struggling in 22 games with Eugene, Wine believes being called up will be a nice change of pace for Turner.
“Fort Wayne is looking for some defense and he’s going to hit,” Wine said. ‘I think with the slow start here — if you can call it a slow start — it’s good to have a fresh start and he’s going to help them out a lot. He has a future.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42