EUGENE, OREGON (May 20, 2026) --- The Eugene Emeralds took advantage of several Hops mistakes in the bottom of the sixth inning on Wednesday night at P.K. Park, scoring five times to erase a 3-2 deficit en route to an 8-3 win over Hillsboro. Eugene has taken the first two games of the six-game series.
Brian Curley, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ third-round draft choice in 2025, had another solid outing against the Ems, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings. In three starts against the best-hitting club in the league, Curley has worked 14 innings, allowing just 10 hits and two runs, with two walks and 17 strikeouts.
The Hops’ offense gave him an early 2-0 lead when #8 hitter Adrian Rodriguez doubled home two with two out in the top of the second off Eugene starter Luis De La Torre. But for the second straight game, Hillsboro lost opportunities to add to the lead, stranding a runner at second in the second inning, runners at first and second in the third inning, and leaving the bases loaded in the fifth.
Eugene tied the game with a run in the second and another in the fifth (on an RBI double by Dakota Jordan), but the Hops responded with a run in the top of the sixth on a bunt single by Yerald Nin, two ground-outs and a two-out single by Jose Mejia.
Hillsboro’s 3-2 lead was erased almost immediately in the bottom of the sixth. Big right-hander John West, who had thrown five shutout innings in his last outing, hit the first batter he faced, and the next reached base on an error by Hops third baseman Yassel Soler. Carlos Gutierrez singled home a run to tie the game, and after a walk, West’s second wild pitch of the inning put Eugene in front. West had a chance to limit the damage to two runs, but leadoff batter Trevor Cohen singled home two more with two out to make it 6-3 Ems, and West’s night was done. Dawson Brown came on with a runner at first and allowed a stolen base and a single to Jordan for another run, before getting the last out of the inning. Ten men had come to the plate for Eugene, and they led 7-3.
The Emeralds added a run in the eighth for the final margin of victory. Right-hander Cade Vernon, who allowed one run on three hits over three innings of relief, got the win for Eugene to improve to 6-1. West took the loss.
Eugene is 32-9 --- the best record among 120 minor-league teams --- and they have an 11-game lead in the Northwest League over both Everett and Tri-City, with 25 games left in the first-half pennant race. The Hops are 16 games out.
Game three of the six-game series will be on Thursday night at 6:35, with the radio pregame show beginning at 6:20PM on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com.