Emeralds Beat Tribe For First Win
Derrick Cohens took a dive in the ninth inning, but for the first time this season the Eugene Emeralds didn’t do the same.
Cohens started Eugene’s two-run 10th Thursday with a one-out double, and the Emeralds defeated the Spokane Indians 5-3 at Seafirst Stadium.
Eugene’s first Northwest League win in seven attempts came harder than expected. Spokane (3-4) trailed 3-0 after seven innings, limited to two singles by 18-year-old starter Juan Cruz.
But Spokane scored twice in the eighth to knock out Cruz, then gained a tie in the ninth on a play that swirled around Cohens in right field.
Spokane’s Casey Dunn lofted a one-out fly to right, near the foul line. Cohens, running full steam, took a diving stab at a catch, but had the ball roll away for a triple. Next batter Jarrett Shearin fouled off a 0-2 pitch from Chris Adams (1-0) before lining a sacrifice to left to score pinch-runner James Shanks.
His play created extra innings, but Cohens had few regrets.
“I wasn’t going to give up on that play, regardless,” Cohens said. “I was going too hard to stop.”
With the wind whipping up in the 10th, Cohens doubled to left-center off Jonathan Jackson (0-1), who made his Spokane debut. Two walks by Mike Russo, the Indians’ fourth pitcher, loaded the bases for .130 hitter Kevin Bass. Bass flew out to short center, but Cohens scored when Shearin’s throw from the outfield sailed over the head of catcher Brian Johnson.
Russo later walked Tony Gsell with the bases loaded for Eugene’s final run. Adams worked a 1-2-3 Spokane 10th.
Spokane had a three-game winning streak snapped in which the Indians outscored Eugene 29-17.
“We had a long talk in the locker room (Wednesday) night,” Cohens said. “We just had to bite the bullet and fight.”
Cruz, reportedly clocked at 90-plus mph, allowed just two batters more than the minimum through seven. He threw 76 pitches to that point, but pitch No. 78 to Julian Gonzalez in the eighth was deposited over the right-field fence.
Indians starter Ryan Douglass allowed no earned runs in five innings, but left trailing 3-0. A Spokane infield error in the first led to Ryan Gripp’s two-run single, and two errors in the fifth created another run.
Spokane finished the game with five errors.
The five-game series ends with tonight’s 7:05 game. The scheduled starting pitchers are Spokane’s Carlos Pichardo (0-1, 15.00) and Eugene’s Ken Conroy (0-0, 6.75).
Notes
Indians first baseman Ken Harvey will travel to Houston this weekend for the Smith Award ceremony. Harvey is one of three finalists for the award, which honors the top player from the just-completed college season. Harvey has been limited to one at-bat with the Indians because of a knee injury… . Indians third baseman G.J. Raymundo missed his third consecutive game with a pulled hamstring… . Thursday marked the 53rd anniversary of the bus accident that killed nine Spokane Indians while crossing Snoqualmie Pass on the way to a game at Bremerton.