Emeralds Shutout Hops for Series Finale Victory

The Emeralds shutout the Hillsboro Hops by a final score of 4-0. It gave the Emeralds the series win against the Hops as they took 4 of the 6 games in Hillsboro. The Emeralds moved back to .500 on the year with a record of 45-45.

It was a pitcher's duel to start the game for both ball clubs as the starters Nick Sinacola and Spencer Giesting held the other team scoreless in the first five innings. Emerald's starter Sinacola pitched almost flawless baseball as he allowed just 2 hits and didn’t give up a run. He didn’t walk a single batter and struck out 3 Hops batters. It took until the 5th inning for the Hops to record their first base runner of the game. Sinacola earned the victory in tonight’s game. He also pitched on Tuesday night where he went 5 scoreless innings and earned the victory in that game. It was a strong week for Sinacola and he’ll have a great chance at earning the Northwest League pitcher of the week with his performance against Hillsboro.

It took until the 6th inning for Eugene to push the first run of the game across the board. Carter Williams led the inning off by hitting a double out to left center field to lead the inning off. The next batter, Grant McCray, singled up the middle to score Williams on the play. McCray was able to swipe 2nd base for his team leading 32nd stolen base of the season. After Carter Howell and Matt Higgins were retired via popout, that brought up the cleanup hitter Sean Roby to the plate.

Sean Roby took the first few pitches of the at-bat against Giesting, but was able to get ahold of a baseball and send it over the wall for the 2-run homer. It was Roby’s 4th homerun in 5 games this week, and he ended the week with 10 RBI’s. Sinacola is going to have a great chance at winning NWL pitcher of the week, and Roby absolutely will be in contention to be the NWL hitter of the week with his strong performance. Roby had also doubled in the 2nd inning to give him another multi-hit performance.

The Emeralds added one more run of insurance in the top of the 8th. With two outs Carter Howell was able to double out to left center field. The next batter, Matt Higgins, ripped a shot into the outfield and Howell was able to come home and score to give the Emeralds the 4-0 lead. Matt Higgins joined the Emeralds on the 9-game road trip, and had himself an excellent series. He ended the week going 8-21 at the plate and had a home run and 6 RBI’s. It’s a great sign to see Higgins adjust so quickly to High-A baseball, and he could be exactly what the Emeralds need at the plate as they look to start stringing together some wins in the 2nd half.

Seth Lonsway pitched in relief for Sinacola today. He pitched 4 innings and allowed 2 hits, no runs, 2 walks and struck out 3 hitters. Lonsway had a similar stat line on Tuesday night when he came in for relief of Sinacola in Tuesday’s 13-1 victory. Lonsway now has back-to-back impressive outings and it’s a great sign that he’s taken a big step forward on the mound.

The Emeralds will look to keep things rolling next Tuesday as they’re set to open up a 6-game series against the Spokane Indians at home. It’ll be the first game back at PK Park in over 2 weeks. The Emeralds are 11-7 against Spokane this season and they’ll look to carry that trend forward on Tuesday night with the first pitch set for 6:35 P.M.