The Eugene Emeralds won their fourth straight playoff game last night, this time by shutting out Spokane 4-0. Spokane was held to just four hits.
Once again, Levi Jordan was right in the thick of things for the offense. The Cubs’ 29th round pick had another two-hit day, including another double, and raised his postseason OPS to .913. Also standing out was Caleb Knight. Not only did Knight, signed after the draft as a free agent, have two doubles, he also showed some very good defense behind the plate. His postseason OPS sits at an even .900, but I don’t think we have a count on the number of stray pitches he has blocked this series. It is a high number, and for a young catcher he is already pretty good at it.
Now the Emeralds need just one more win to pick up their second Northwest League title in three years, and they have three tries to get it.
Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 4, Spokane 0
This was Eugene’s first shutout of the postseason.
Jack Patterson: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Eugenio Palma: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Sean Barry: 2 IP, 2 K
Levi Jordan: 2 for 4, 2B
Nelson Velazquez: 1 for 4, SB
Jonathan Sierra: 1 for 3, BB, SB
Caleb Knight: 2 for 4, 2 2B
Other Notes
Another playoff win, another excellent performance by the bullpen. This time they combined for five innings of one hit ball, striking out four.
This was the first playoff game for Eugene this season that did not end in a score of 3-2.
The Emeralds have not yet announced a starter for Game Three, set to be played tonight. One possibility would be to give the ball back to Eury Ramos who started Game One of the Hillsboro series. He didn’t get out of the third inning in that game, though, and hasn’t had a great year overall. If the Emeralds opted to skip over Ramos, they could go with the other starter from the Hillsboro series, Faustino Carerra. Carrera would be pitching on normal rest if they went that route. Zach Mort might also be an option. The Cubs 8th round pick was part of the rotation when the regular season ended, but he hasn’t made a postseason appearance yet.
Even though every game in this series has been in Eugene due to scheduling issues with the ballpark in Spokane, Eugene officially spent the first two contests as the road team. Starting today they will be the actual home team, not just the de facto one.
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