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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eugene Handles Indians Emeralds Win Game 9-4 Despite Losing Bearings

In the tunnel leading to the Eugene locker room after a 9-4 win over Spokane on Sunday, it sounded like the Emeralds had lost and not won.

Jim Saul, the Emeralds’ manager, was yelling at the top of his lungs because his team was only given hand towels to dry off with after showering.

“This is the second day in a row we’ve been given these little-bitty towels!” Saul said in his southern Appalachian Mountain accent. “I’m a mild-mannered man (from Bristol, Va.) - I don’t get mad very often!”

Saul went back to the dugout and made his demand to at least two employees. The best the Emeralds could get were two full-sized towels.

After he cooled off, he finally realized where he was. “Aww, that’s alright, this is minor-league baseball - I’ve got to accept it.”

What Saul didn’t have to yell about, however, was his team’s performance on the field at Seafirst Stadium.

Behind the pitching of starter Robert Bell - and the fact that every Eugene batter got a hit - the Emeralds put distance between themselves and the Indians in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Eugene moved its record to 4-2 and Spokane fell to 3-3.

Bell (1-1) pitched six innings and allowed just two hits and two earned runs. Offensively, Eugene’s Mark DeRosa got four hits for the second straight day while Brian Rust, the No. 9 hitter who entered the game batting 10 digits below his weight (.200), went 3 for 5 at the plate.

Spokane’s Modesto Villarreal (1-1) was charged with the loss. In five innings, he surrendered nine hits and five earned runs.

Villarreal also drew one not-so-friendly visit from Spokane manager Bob Herold. It came when Eugene was in the midst of building its comfortable lead.

“Modesto dropped his head,” Herold said. “When he did that, we went down with him.”

In the fourth, Villarreal gave up four hits and hit a batter, which led to three runs as Eugene’s pushed its lead to 4-2. In the fifth, Villarreal gave up four more hits, resulting in two more runs. After Spokane reliever Donald Quigley was brought in in the sixth, he promptly gave up three hits and walked two - producing two more runs for the Emeralds.

Eugene finished the game with 15 hits.

“I’ve been trying to give everybody an opportunity to bat,” Saul said. “So far, everybody has responded.”

DeRosa’s 4-for-5 effort boosted his batting average to .520 on the year, and Eugene’s Pooh Hines, the Northwest League’s batting leader, actually had his batting average drop with his 2-for-4 effort at the plate. He entered the game batting .588, but it dipped to .571.

The biggest highlights for Spokane took place in the third, when the Indians rallied from a 1-0 deficit.

Roman Escamilia led off the inning with a walk before moving to second on Eric Sees’ single to right field.

Jeremy Giambi walked to load the bases, and Tony Miranda hit a sacrifice to center to score Escamilia.

Kris Didion followed with a ground ball to short, allowing Sees to score giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.

The Indians got two more runs in the bottom of the ninth for the game’s final margin.

Spokane missed an opportunity to make the game a little more interesting when it left two men on base to end the game.

On Spokane’s last at-bat, with one out, Sees hit a screaming liner to Eugene’s first baseman Steve Hacker, who stepped on the bag to double up Escamilia, who had taken off at the crack of the bat.

The teams play again tonight at 7:05, with Spokane righty Ethan Stein scheduled to start. Eugene will send lefty Bruce Chen.

Emeralds 9, Indians 4

Eugene Spokane

ab r h bi ab r h bi Espada 2b 5 2 1 0 Giambi rf 1 0 0 0 Hines 3b 3 1 2 0 Pitts rf 1 0 0 0 Derosa ss 5 1 4 3 Miranda dh 3 0 0 1 Hacker 1b 3 2 1 1 Didion 3b 3 0 0 1 Johnson cf 4 1 1 1 Arrollado 3b 1 1 0 0 Brown c 5 0 1 2 Layne 1b 3 0 0 0 Pickett tf 5 1 1 1 Harp ph 0 1 0 0 Pointer lf 5 0 1 1 Berger lf 3 0 1 0 Rust dh 5 1 3 0 Pellow dh 1 0 0 0 Beltran cf 2 0 0 0 Taft ph 1 0 1 1 Moore 2b 3 0 0 0 Robles ph 0 0 0 0 Escamilla c 3 1 1 1 Sees ss 4 1 1 0 Totals 40 9 15 9 Totals 29 4 4 4

Eugene 100 322 010 - 9 Spokane 002 000 002 - 4

E-DeRosa (8), Didion (2). DP-Eugene 2, Spokane 1. LOB Eugene 9, Spokane 5. 2B-Espada (1), Hacker (1), Johnson (1), Rust (2). 3B-Pickett (1). SB-Espada (2), Giambi (3). S-Hines. SF- Hacker, Miranda.

Eugene IP H R ER BB SO Bell W,1-1 6 2 2 2 4 3 Giuliano 2-1/3 1 2 1 1 2 Pinales S,1 2/3 1 0 0 0 0

Spokane IP H R ER BB SO Villarreal L,1-1 5 9 6 5 0 2 Quigley 3 6 3 3 2 2 Burton 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBPby Villarreal (Hacker), by Giuliano (Harp).

T-2:35. A-4,730.

, DataTimes