Emeralds roll Everett 11-2 in series-opening victory

There are days the Emeralds have to grind out wins, the way they did against the Tri-City Dust Devils to take a tight six-game series over the weekend.

Then, there are days where the second-place Ems show their mettle, dominating Everett from start to finish in an 11-2 victory over the spiraling AquaSox.

It was the type of win that showed why the Emeralds find themselves a game out of first place — Spokane winning 1-0 keeps the Ems at that number with nine games to play in the first-half.

With Seth Corry, Nick Sinacola and Kyle Cody all promoted to AA, this certainly isn’t the squad the Eugene faithful last saw take the field two Sundays ago. Still, it was the pieces the Ems did have that spearheaded the blow-out victory.

The 2,331 faithful were instead treated to a talented — albeit much different — Eugene team’s win.

They saw Onil Perez add a pair of hits including a two-run double in the sixth. They also saw Cody Tucker’s Ems’ debut — the right-hander showing off his electric erraticness by walking two but striking out three in 1.2 innings pitched.

But most importantly what they saw was a team taking care of business on its home field, the Ems (31-25) improving to an even 14-14 at PK Park.

Instead of dwelling on the players they have lost, Eugene took advantage of the opportunities they did have. Quinn McDaniel — marred in a 5-26 slump — likely wasn’t the Ems’ first choice to be up with runners on second and third. But, his single up the middle was good for a dagger of sorts — the knock putting the Ems up five in the fifth. Swings like McDaniel’s coupled with a two-run homer from Matt Higgins gave the Emeralds more than enough offense to clinch an ever-elusive stress-free home win.

Underpinning the offensive explosion was five and ⅔ innings of scoreless ball from Trevor McDonald and Julio Rodriguez. Both right-handers mixed pitches well. They both wobbled a bit while allowing six hits, but didn’t allow much else, providing a stabling force before Eugene’s late-inning offense put the game away for good.

The win was welcomed, especially with Eugene now counting down the games while trying to clinch its third playoff appearance in four years.

Eugene’s win was just another chapter in a season-long disparity between the two clubs. The Emeralds have now increased to six games over .500 with Everett five under.

Despite equaling the Ems on most numerical margins — Everett added eight hits against the Ems’ pitching staff and had 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position — the AquaSox struggled in all other facets. The Emeralds had multiple runners on in five innings, taking a beating on four AquaSox pitchers — all of which allowed two or more runs.

“The number is getting smaller, the games are getting more important,” Assistant General Manager Matt Dompe said postgame.

Indeed they are. Eugene showed what it’s all about Tuesday night — so did the AquaSox.