Preston Morrison, the Cubs eighth round pick in 2015, opened the game with three innings, striking out four. Kyle Twomey, a lefty the Cubs took in the thirteenth round in 2015, followed up with three strikeouts and a walk over three innings. Luis Hernandez, a 6’5″ 20 year old right hander making just his second appearance with the Emeralds, got into a bit of trouble thanks to two walks and some shakey defense, but with four strikeouts he was able to keep the no hitter going through his two innings of work. Trey Masek then struck out one in the ninth to seal the achievement.
None of these guys are considered significant prospects (yet, but we’ve seen how fast that can change). That should not take anything away from this game, though. A no-hitter, even a minor league multi-pitcher no-hitter, is still a no-hitter. It is still extremely rare and very difficult to pull off, and the Emeralds accomplished it against one of the best teams in the league.
And in the process they pulled themselves to within a game of the division lead. For Eugene, Sunday was a great day.
Scores From Friday
Iowa – The Cubs struggled in all aspects of this 9-2 loss. Tennessee – The Smokies fell into a huge early hole that turned into a 14-2 loss. Myrtle Beach – Myrtle Beach managed just three hits in this 7-3 loss. South Bend – The Cubs offense erupted in the late innings to seal a big 12-2 win. Eugene – The Emeralds kept coming back, but never quite got there. They lost 6-3. Arizona – The Cubs did not score in the final six innings as they lost 5-4.
Performances of Note
[Iowa] Ryan Buchter struck out 3 over 2 hitless innings. He had the only scoreless outing in this one.
[Iowa] Tommy La Stella doubled for Iowa’s only extra base hit.
[Myrtle Beach] Cael Brockmeyer homered, his 2nd for the Pelicans. It was the only extra base hit for the Pelicans.
[Myrtle Beach] Jeremy Null allowed just 3 hits in his 5 innings of work. He allowed one walk and struck out 2.
[Myrtle Beach] Jasvir Rakkar struck out 2 and allowed a run on a hit in his inning of relief.
[South Bend] Jesse Hodges doubled twice and homered (his 6th to finish with 3 hits). Ian Happ homered (his 3rd with South Bend) and also finished with 3 hits.
[Iowa] Carlos Pimentel struck out 6 in his 7 innings of work. He allowed a run on 4 hits and 2 walks.
[Tennessee] Jacob Hannemann hit his 4th homer and finished with 2 hits.
[Tennessee] Albert Almora kept his hitting streak alive with a double. Just one, though.
[Tennessee] Ryan Williams allowed just one run on 3 hits and 2 walks in his 6 innings on the mound. He struck out 4.
[Myrtle Beach] Chesny Young doubled and walked twice to finish 1 for 2.
[Myrtle Beach] Pin-Chieh Chen hit his 4th triple of the season.
[Myrtle Beach] Paul Blackburn pitched an excellent game. He threw 91 pitches over 7 innings, struck out 9, and allowed a run on 4 hits.
[Myrtle Beach] David Garner struck out the side in the final inning.
[South Bend] Jake Stinnett struck out 8 over his 6 innings on the mound. He allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and a walk.
[South Bend] David Bote doubled twice and finished 2 for 4. Jeffrey Baez added one double as part of his 2 hit day.
[South Bend] Charcer Burks doubled and stole his 24th base of the season.
[Eugene] Adbert Alzolay struck out 4, walked 3, and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits (including 2 home runs).
[Eugene] The bullpen did good work in this one, highlighted by 2 hitless innings from Jae-Hoon Ha (2 BB, 1 K) and the 3 strikeouts over 2 innings (1 H) from Tyler Peitzmeier.
[Eugene] Donnie Dewees homered for the 5th time this year.
[Eugene] Blake Headley finished 2 for 3. He had the only multi-hit game for the Emeralds.
[Arizona] Jesus Camargo struck out 4 in his 4 scoreless innings of work. He allowed 2 hits and a walk.
[Arizona] Tyler Skulina struck out 4 in his 2 innings of relief, allowing just one hit.
[Arizona] Dan Vogelbach began his rehab assignment with a 2 for 2 game.
[South Bend] Zach Hedges struck out 2 and allowed a run on 4 hits in his 5 inning start.
[Eugene] If you haven’t read the intro yet, do that. The pitching in this game deserves more praise than I could pack into this space.
[Eugene] Frandy Delarosa and Eloy Jimenez each doubled in this one. Kevonte Mitchell doubled and finished with 2 hits. He also stole his 10th base.
Other News
Until the Emeralds completed their masterpiece, the headline in this article was going to be Ian Happ. Happ has been hitting very well in South Bend lately, well enough that the Cubs may think about bumping him to Myrtle Beach for the playoff run as they have done with similar college draftees in the past.
The leader board for MiLB.com’s Jersey Joust has come into focus, and Myrtle Beach is on the board at number nine with their Christmas Vacation look. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the awesomeness on the leader board and cast a vote or three dozen.
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NEWSLETTER
On Sunday night the Eugene Emeralds got their first no hitter since 1968 in a four pitcher effort over Everett.
